viral load

recently had a HCV Rna test to confirm a active virus,  it came back at 5.4 log iu  wondering if anyone knows how to convert this to a viral load I can understand?  I am waiting on other blood work results,  I have biopsy scheduled for 4/7

Thanks for the Help

[Virusbuster]

My first guess would be that "5.4 log" is short for 10^5.4, i.e. roughly 250,000 IU/ml. But perhaps the dot should not be read as a decimal sign, but as a multiplier? In that case, it should be read as 5 * 4 log, or 5 * 10,000 = 50,000 IU/ml.

I find my first guess more likely, but perhaps someone from the field can shed light on the sometimes shady particularities of how the med pros use numbers and units.

[Bill1954]

I was watching for your post; I knew you had an appointment on the 27th. I believe Virusbuster got it as close as need be; I came up with a numerical expression of 251,000 IU/mL. That’s still considered a low viral load, for what it’s worth; they are now using 400,000 IU/mL for the cut-off point for low viral load.

Good luck with the biopsy; it shouldn’t give you any problems. They are essentially painless, and the biggest problem is usually boredom afterwards waiting. Bring a book, or something to listen to; they’ll want to monitor for any complications, and ask the patient to wait for several hours post procedure.

Did they have time to run genotype yet? Genotype will help determine duration of treatment, as well as the efficacy of treatment.

Take care, and hang in there—

Bill

[rockportbill]

Thanks for clearing that up.  I am still waiting on my Geno type

[newleaf09]

There's a Hep C site called Janis & freinds that has tables that will convert units to # of virus particles.  Another that I like is at this link:
http://www.hepatitis-central.com/hcv/hepatitis/loadchart.html

It agrees with Bill1954's calculations of around 250,000.  That is excellent and greatly increases your odds of clearing the virus.  

If you end up to be a geno 1 (most of us Americans are), I hope you are Geno 1b, as 1b plus low viral load is an extremely positive indicator of clearing and you may want to go for it.

[arpren]

25000 that is very low viral load  mine was 18000000