Why do I need an HIV viral load?Your health care provider may order an HIV viral load when you are first diagnosed with HIV. This initial measurement helps your provider measure how your condition changes over time. You will probably be tested again every three to four months to see if your viral levels have changed since your first test. If you are being treated for HIV, your health care provider may order regular viral load tests to see how well your medicines are working.You may also need an HIV viral load if you think you may have been recently infected. HIV is mainly spread through sexual contact and blood. (It can also be transmitted from mother to child during birth and through breast milk.) You may be at higher risk of infection if you:Are a man that has had sex with another manHave had sex with an HIV-infected partnerHave had multiple sex partnersHave injected drugs, such as heroin, or shared drug needles with someone elseAn HIV viral load can find HIV in your blood within days after you've been infected. Other tests can take several weeks or months to show an infection. During that time, you could infect someone else without knowing it. An HIV viral load gives you results sooner, so you can avoid spreading the disease.
