viral load

My husbands viral load is 600,000 he has been diagnosed with genotype 1 a and should start meds. soon How likely is he to be virus free after 48 weeks of treatment?

[Bill1954]

Hi there,

And welcome to the discussion group. Using the current medications, your husband will most likely be virus negative at the end of 48 weeks of treatment. In fact, that will probably occur with only 12 16 weeks. However, the difficulty with genotype 1 patients is viral relapse; this occurs at the end of the treatment period, after the medications have concluded.

Approximately 45-50% of genotype 1 patients will achieve ‘SVR” (Sustained Viral Response) with their first round of therapy; this is defined as completing the treatment with undetectable virus, then after six months without meds, the patient will continue to have undetectable test results.

Has your husband had a biopsy to determine fibrosis yet?

Good luck to both of you—

Bill

[copyman]

your husband has a very good chance of being cured with a low viral load like his. Even with that his chances are still only 50%.

His next step would be to have a biopsy to see how much, if any liver damage he has. If minimal then he could wait until 2011 for the new drugs. These new drugs will increase his chances to 80% or more. And the best part is possibility or cure with only six months of treatment!

[mliver]

Thanks for the information