(Viral Load). The amount of HIV
virus in the circulating blood. Monitoring a person's viral burden is important because of the apparent correlation between the amount of
virus in the blood and the severity of the disease: sicker patients generally have more
virus than those with less advanced disease. A new, sensitive, rapid test-called the branched
DNA assay for
HIV-1 infection-can be used to monitor the HIV viral burden. In the future, this procedure may help clinicians to decide when to give anti-HIV therapy. It may also help investigators determine more quickly if experimental HIV therapies are effective.