There was a marginal trend toward cases independently having a higher pre-ART viral load ( P = .08), a lower weight for age or BMI for age ( P = .0503 or P = .08, respectively), and a lower CD4 + T-cell percentage ( P = .06) than controls (other model coefficients were unchanged).
Viral load response was defined as an HIV viral load of <10 000 copies/mL or a >1 log 10 decrease in viral load at week 4, a viral load of <5000 copies/mL at week 24, and, subsequently, viral loads of <80 copies/mL at all measurements through 3 years (the lower limit of 80 copies/mL was selected because many samples had to be diluted owing to small volumes), allowing >80 copies/mL at week 36 only, provided that the viral load was exhibiting a decreasing trend (as observed among slow responders).