Your Viral Load and HIV
When your viral load goes up, it will affect the number of working CD4+ cells, usually making them decrease in number. Your doctor will measure your viral load and your CD4+ cells to determine your status and the next steps for your treatment. Together, viral load and CD4+ cells help determine your overall health. Understanding viral load and how it affects your body and your CD4+ cells is important in identifying your needs as an individual with HIV. Knowing this information may help you understand why it is important to remain adherent. Fortunately, today there are medications that can help keep your viral load down to undetectable levels, helping to get your CD4+ cell count up.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), a key goal of HIV therapy is to reduce viral load to undetectable levels (<50 copies/mL). However, even if a person has undetectable levels, he or she is not cured and can still transmit the virus to others.
HIV or AIDS?
The CD4 count also helps define when someone with HIV has progressed to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If you have HIV, it does not necessarily mean that you have AIDS. A person with fewer than 200 CD4+ cells, or who develops an AIDS-defining infection or condition (sometimes called an opportunistic infection) or certain other conditions, meets the definition for an AIDS diagnosis. Generally, regular infections that may not present a problem in healthy people can be a problem if your CD4+ cell count falls below 200 cells.
Keeping your CD4 count up and your viral load down with medicines and healthy living may delay the development of AIDS. Seeking healthcare is a very important step that you can take to try to control your HIV virus.
INDICATION AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
VIRAMUNE is indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV infection.
VIRAMUNE does not cure HIV or AIDS, and has not been shown to reduce the risk of passing HIV to others through sexual contact or blood contamination.
VIRAMUNE can cause severe liver disease and skin reactions that can cause death. These reactions occur most often during the first 18 weeks of treatment, but can occur later. Ask your healthcare provider about how to recognize symptoms of skin and liver problems.
Stop taking VIRAMUNE if you have any of these reactions. Do not restart VIRAMUNE if you experience any of these reactions. Call your healthcare provider immediately if you have any of these reactions.
VIRAMUNE is only for people diagnosed with HIV. If you have not been diagnosed as HIV positive, then do not take VIRAMUNE.
Any patient can experience liver problems with VIRAMUNE, but women and patients who have higher CD4 counts when they begin VIRAMUNE treatment have a greater risk. If you are a woman with CD4+ >250 cells/mm3, or a man with CD4+ >400 cells/mm3, you should not begin taking VIRAMUNE unless you and your doctor have decided that the benefit of doing so outweighs the risk. Women, including pregnant women, with CD4+ cell counts >250 cells/mm3 are at the greatest risk.
Do not take VIRAMUNE if you have severe liver problems.
The dose of VIRAMUNE for adults is one 200-mg tablet daily for the first 14 days, followed by one 200-mg tablet twice daily. VIRAMUNE is always taken with other anti-HIV medications. The 14-day lead-in period is important because it can help reduce your chances of getting a potentially serious skin rash. If you have a skin rash during the first 14 days, immediately contact your doctor and do not increase your VIRAMUNE dose to twice a day. The total duration of the once daily lead-in dosing period should not exceed 28 days, at which point an alternative regimen may need to be started.
Other side effects that patients have experienced include nausea, fatigue, fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and myalgia. Changes in body fat may occur in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. Immune reconstitution syndrome has been reported in patients treated with combination ARV therapy.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or
Please see full Prescribing Information, including boxed WARNING and Medication Guide, for VIRAMUNE.
