Viral load

Viral load is a measure of the severity of a viral infection, and can be estimated by calculating the amount of virus in an involved body fluid, e.g. given in nucleic acid copies per milliliter of blood. Determination of viral load is part of the therapy monitoring during chronic viral infections and in immunocompromised patients, e.g. after bone marrow or solid organ transplantation. Currently, routine testing is available for HIV-1, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus.