Updated Test
Effective Date
07/25/2023
Included in Report
Updated Test
HIV Viral Load Testing Notification
The purpose of this notification is to inform clients of an upcoming change to the HIV-1 RNA, Ultra Quantitative viral load (HIVUL) test report.
Currently, reports for specimens resulted as Not detected for HIV-1 contain the value <20 copies/mL in the HIV-1 RNA Quantitative result field, indicating a viral load below the assay limit
of detection (LOD).
In order to meet certain state reporting requirements, specimens resulted as Not detected for HIV-1 will now contain the value 0 copies/mL in the HIV-1 RNA Quantitative result field. Specimens determined to contain HIV-1 RNA will still be called Detected and the viral load will be reported in the HIV-1 RNA Quantitative result field. Specimens with very low viral loads between 1-19 copies/mL will continue to be reported as Detected with <20 copies/mL reported in the result field.
There is no change to the performance of the HIV-1 RNA assay. Results for all specimens prior to this change will remain unchanged. As indicated in the report messages, a Not detected result does not rule out infection.