2 log drop

[BeatThisThing]

I am in my 12th week of a 24 week pegasys and copegus treatment, genotype 2b. My Quantitative HCV RNA  Assay was 402300copies/ml 149000 iu/ml before treatment.  I have read a lot about having at least a 2 log drop with the 12th week viral load test.  How do you calculate the 2 log drop?
I will have my viral load taken this Thursday.

If I don't have a 2 log drop would that mean I might not be responding and should not continue treatment?

Bottom line, what does all this mean?

[Marcia2202]

Thanks for the formula, it will come in handy...

Marcia

[fuzzy1dar]

Being a G2  myself and UND at wk 4 = 85-90% svr.....that's great news.  thanks for posting this info CS.

best to all....Darla

[CockSparrow]

G2s and G3s generally dont have to worry about a 2 log drop by week 12.
This is because around 93% of us achieve that. Not achieving it = non response.

The important PCR test for G2s is the 4 week one.
Being UND at 4 weeks = 85-90% svr rate
not being UND @ 4 weeks = 50-60% svr rate.

CS

[CockSparrow]

Thats a 1.63 log drop.
The exact formula is below

To calculate your Viral Load in Logs
Run Calculator on your PC
View Scientific
Enter VL number
Click the Log button

And there it is, your VL in logs.
in your case 633,000 IU/mL = 5.801etc. Round to the nearest number to the right of the decimal point.
5.8 in your case

14900 = 4.17
5.8 - 4.17 = 1.63 log drop.

To convert the figure in the other direction you need to do ten to the power of the figure.
With calculator it goes like this:-

Enter 10
Click X^Y
Enter number
Click =
Result comes back
You will need to round to the nearest 1000.

Hope this Helps
CS

[antman]

what is the actual formula for calculating a log drop. in the second week i went from 633,000 to 14,900. what log drop wpould that be a how did you get it?
thanks,
ant

[willing]

congratulations on the good news. Those are indeed encouraging numbers - fight on!

[mikesimon]

Great news. Keep it up. Mike

[MajNeni]

Right on!  Great progress.  Feel good!  Maj Neni

[scruffy]

Thanks Galen and perhaps I should mention that I,ve had hcv for about 30 years so a two log drop ain't bad.

[Galen]

A two log drop would have been 10,000 and you are less than 600.  That is a great response and you are on your way to slay another dragon!

[scruffy]

For the record folks I got my 12 wk results.Started at 1 million
plus copies/ml and quantitative is now less then 600 copies/ml and qualitative test says I,m still detectable. I,m type 1 and now on week 14.Good enough for now. my best to you.

[DebbieDo]

Thanks for the site info....I have an appt tomorrow and i want to understand as much as possible before i go...I will get results from biospy and blood work then.....thanks
Deb
PS.......im so happy i found this site...

[Steve']

Hep-c has different geno types just like us people all have different blood groups... type 1 is considered slightly more difficult to cure & as a result the interferon treatment is compulsory 12 months as apposed to geno type 3's are treated for 6 months .... hope this helps ....  
Thanks to MikeSimon & Galen for the explanation on the 2 log drop I never knew how you calculated it  ... now I do thanks ...
Good Luck All Here is a very good link for you <a href=http://janis7hepc.com/Genotypes.htm>Click Here</a> this will help you out
~~~Steve~~~

[DebbieDo]

What is the difference if you are a type 1 or 2 or 3.....i have read over and over that 2 and 3 have better chances of the treatment helping you...What is type 1 mean....?

[Galen]

The number you are looking at for this purpose it the 149000 iu/ml.  The simple way to figure out a 2 log drop is to drop the last 2 zeros, ie. to 1,490iu/ml.  The latest statistics I have been able to find show that if you are not either undetectabe or have a 2 log drop by week 12, your chances at an SVR drop to about 3%.  You had a really low starting count.  Just a few years ago the available tests only measured down to 200,000.  Since you are doing 24 weeks, I am assuming you are a type 2 or 3, and so had an 85% chance of kicking dragon butt going in.  Good luck on your 12 week VL test and keep us posted.

[mikesimon]

Move the decimal point two to the left. 2 log drop from 149,000 would be 1490 IU/ML. This is an indication that you are responding to tx and have a greater likelihood of clearing the virus. Should you not have a 2 log drop the odds of clearing are significantly reduced. Good luck. Mike