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Updated: May 28, 2026

Amplifying and Quantifying HIV-1 RNA in HIV Infected Individuals with Viral Loads Below the Limit of Detection by Standard Clinical Assays
Published on: September 26, 2011
Improved viral suppression after treatment optimization in HIV-infected patients with persistent low-level viremia
Michael J McConnell1, Julian Mier-Mota, Fernando Flor-Parra
1Unit of Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla/Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
Abstract:
Optimizing treatment for patients with persistent low-level viremia is complicated because most genotyping tests are validated for viral loads >1000 copies per milliliter. In this study, genotypes of 92 treatment-experienced patients with persistent low-level viremia were determined using an in-house assay. Based on the resistance profiles obtained from genotyping and patient pharmacologic history, patients were either maintained on their antiviral regimen (n = 51) or received an optimized regimen (n = 41). In the group receiving optimized treatment, undetectable viral loads were achieved in 73.2% at 6 months and at 90.2% at 1 year, indicating that treatment guided by genotyping of patients with low-level viremia is effective in achieving viral suppression.
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