Right Malcolm,

I lost the end of my message where I wrote what my hepatologist told me when the result was <15. "Be happy, the virus is undetected". 

Hi Bill,

VL reports are a pain, but with different labs using differing tests, it's unlikely there will be any uniformity.

Your result is: <15 Detected. That means you have detectable virus, but the level cannot be quantified. In any case, it is less than 15 i.u./ml.

Some labs say: <15 Undetected, or <15 TND (Target Not Detected), when there is no detectable virus on the dilutions. I believe Bouba gets the French version of TND. That is what we want to see. Hopefully next time.  Cheers.

So as not to confuse anyone including myself, I had to go my data from the start.  In one post I said they did not know what to call my tx because it was so odd ball.  The first nine weeks I was only on peg and rib.  The rib started at 1400 and in week  9 was down to just 600 per day and I had to go for blood transfussion and started 40,000 eprex once per week.  Went on the Vit for a week and then kidneys crashed, took off all treatment for one week and kidneys came back and on Vit again.  So this Viral load was taken 21,12,2012. or week 4 weeks of triple therapy of peg rib (600) and Vit.  With only the peg and rib for the first 4 weeks in October my viral load had dropped from 1.7x10to 7 iu/ml to 9.69x 10 to the 3 iu/ml.  So I guess one could say a long run at the 8 week mark of triple thearpy (took me 14 wks) I dropped significantly.  Question will be where doctor decides to put start and stop date of 48 weeks, He may extend it to match the true 48 week triple thearapy, Odd Ball I still am

Thanks Bill and Family

Well finally I got the results of Viral Load done December 24 I won't see my doctor or nurse until end of month, It says "Hepatitis C rna Viral Load Detected, the result for HCV RNA is below the linear range of the essay which is 15 IU/ml and thus the exact value cannot be calculated"  Don't understand this will be week 17 but did not start Vict until start of December and does of Rib only at 600 and blood still low

Bill and Family

The tests vary in their reporting of viral load when the values are very low. But very low, or absent, is what we like best. So it gets scary at times. My VL at week 4 was "less than 25", but detectable. So they gave me twelve extra weeks. But other tests have a lower "bottom end", like the one you took, and "less that 15" may very well mean UND. I think we need an opinion from Malcolm or someone else who knows these tests better than I do.

Alan