Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) plasmatic load, also called HCV viremia, is expressed in copies per milliliter or viral particle equivalents per milliliter.
Current knowledge and key points: The methods used to measure HCV viremia are based on two principles: the quantitation of viral proteins (measure of antigenemia using monoclonal antibodies), and the quantitation of viral nucleic acid using PCR after reverse transcription (RT-PCR), or signal amplification (branched DNA). There is no relationship between viremia and liver histologic activity.
Future prospects and projects: The use of HCV quantitative viremia in a treatment algorithm, including other factors such as age, genotype, degree of viral genetic heterogeneity, and liver fibrosis score will help adapt therapeutic associations for each individual.