Why did my viral load increase?

[Marygetsdown]

I know vital load has nothing to do with how sick you are, Im just curious as to why in September my viral load was 6.6 million and now it's 18.5 million. Anyone know why these fluctuations occur? I'm not on treatment yet.

[FaithforHealing]

Thanks for the great link, http://www.epidemic.org/theFacts/hepatitisC/lifeCycle/   I think that answers her question.

[Marygetsdown]

Thanks for all the info. I know it has nothing to do with the effects or symptoms or anything. I'm just a curious person. I'm not worried about it.

[Bill1954]

Unhindered, HCV replicates at roughly 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) copies per day; your current viral load is probably more a reflection of your immune status than anything else:

“...Replication of HCV involves several steps. The virus replicates mainly in the hepatocytes of the liver, where it is estimated that daily each infected cell produces approximately fifty virions (virus particles) with a calculated total of one trillion virions generated...”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C_virus#Replication

--Bill

[Sentinel13]

Hi Again Mary;

Reference your subsequent 4 questions, which are:
  1. Why does it change though?
  2. Is the virus multiplying all the time?
  3. Could it change to say 8.6 million tomorrow?
  4. Or can it only go up without treatment?

Regarding your 1st question, here is a 1-page article that should answer  why the viral load changes.

http://www.epidemic.org/theFacts/hepatitisC/lifeCycle/

The article is technical, but it contains some key sentences such as:

1. "The viral RNA is now copied hundreds or thousands of times, making the genetic material for new viruses."

2. "Each surviving virus - those which are not destroyed by the immune system or other environmental factors - can produce hundreds or thousands of offspring."

Regarding your 2nd question, yes the virus is multiplying all of the time.

Regarding your 3rd question, yes it could be lower tomorrow (but only due to short-term fluctuations).

Regarding your 4th question, I believe your viral load will only go up without treatment.

I see you just joined this forum last month. There are many knowledgeable members. From Will (who encourages me to provide references for facts and figures) to Hector to so many others from which you have not yet heard. Regards, GB

[willbb]

:0)

[HectorSF]

Why does it change though?
I already answered the question above.

Is the virus multiplying all the time?
The viral replicates in the liver over a trillion times a day.

Could it change to say 8.6 million tomorrow?
Yes.

Or can it only go up without treatment?
I will go up and down without treatment. It all depends how often it is measured.

The point is viral load has NO effects on symptoms, levels of disease, etc of hepatitis C and it has doesn't change the impact the virus is having on your liver. Viral load is only useful for seeing if you are responding to treatment or not. Worrying about your viral load is really non-productive for two reasons. It makes no difference as far as your hepatitis C is concerned and no difference to your liver disease progression either. Secondly are more to the point, there is NOTHING you can do to change it, so why spend time thinking about something you have control over?

In my opinion it is more productive to educate yourself about hepatitis C and treatment so you will be as ready as you can be when you treat the virus.

Good luck.

Hector

[willbb]

Why does it change though? Is the virus multiplying all the time?
-----------------------------------------------------
Yes..constantly ...literally Billions  in a day.


could it change to say 8.6 million tomorrow?

---------------------------------

Yes ..or go to 23 mill..this is a complex process between your immune system fighting it and the virons replicating.


Or can it only go up without treatment?

----------------------------------------------

For the most part yes..however at times the virus outsmarts the destructive forces of the drugs and still replicates,however treatments today are very succesful in eradicating the virus directly

best ...
Will

[HectorSF]

First, were both viral loads done using the same test?

Viral load levels change all the time. As do all blood levels in the body. Or everything in the universe for that matter. Nothing is static. Since the viral load uses a logarithmic scale their really isn't much difference between 6.6 million and 18.5 million. Viral load is NOT on a linear scale as we are commonly used to. The logarithmic scale is used because is an easy way to deal with very large and very small numbers. The scale is used because large changes can only be captured on graphs or diagrams by using a log scale. This turns large numbers into manageable figures. A one log or 2 log difference would be significant as is commonly seen during treatment of hepatitis C. In other words if your viral load went up to 66 million or 660 million. This is similar to what happens during treatment except during treatment it would be a 1, 2 or more logs of decrease in viral load that would show your doctor and yourself that you were responding to treatment.

In other words the viral load numbers have to be able to accommodate a number in the millions while at the same time numbers less than one hundred in order to confirm that the virus has been eliminated.

Good luck with your treatment.

Hector

[Marygetsdown]

Why does it change though? Is the virus multiplying all the time? could it change to say 8.6 million tomorrow? Or can it only go up without treatment? Thanks guys, I'm just very curious and couldn't find anything on this when I searched.

[willbb]

Hi there.  That is not uncommon at all. As oddly as it sounds there is not much difference in those two amounts if you can think about the virus replicating literally by the billions and at the same time being destroyed by your immune system, allon a daily basis.

The amounts  you posted in log form(how the medical community express i it ) are 6.8 log and 7.3 log. So in reality  not much difference and it may be 5 mill today..

Hope that helps explain some..
best..
Will

[Sentinel13]

Hi Mary: I imagine other members of this forum will weigh in with their ideas, but here are MY ideas based on my experience.

1. In 2009, my viral load increased from UND to 1.8M in a month because my virus came out of hiding (possibly in my lymphatic system) after I stopped treatment.

2. I believe the virus increases at and increasing rate -- that's a Y=AX^b power function -- which is logarithmically linear. I do not have a reference for that statement so please consider this my own thought. Put another way, I suspect it takes about as long for the virus to increase from 100,000 to 1M as it takes for the virus to increase from 1M to 10M (again, no formal reference for my belief).

3. The increase from 6.6M to 18.5M is less than a log, which is a relatively small change. V/r, GB