Table 1. Demographic patient characteristics of the study population.

	PCR-negative	PCR-positive	PCR-positive	PCR-positive
		all	Age<25 years	Age≥25 years
total n = 120	n = 32	n = 88	n = 20	n = 68
Age (years)	35.0±12.2	35.2±11.3	22.6±1.5	38.9±10.1
	(21.1–59.0)	(18.6–63.7)	(18.7–24.9)	(25.2–63.7)
Gender	77% female	78% female	95% female	75% female
CD4+ T-Cell count (cells/µl)	664±299	490±222	534±215	478±223
	(224–1435)	(99–1056)	(140–1037)	(99–1056)
time since first diagnosis (years)	1.30±2.75	1.30±1.75	0.77±0.83	1.45±1.92
	(0.05–15.09)	(0.04–9.97)	(0.05–2.99)	(0.04–9.97)
Sequencing from PBMC (%) compared to plasma	--	52%	50%	53%
Clinical stage (CDC) A1	56%	33%	45%	29%
Clinical stage (CDC) A2	38%	51%	45%	53%
Clinical stage (CDC) B1	0%	9%	10%	9%
Clinical stage (CDC) B2	6%	7%	0%	9%

The study population consisted of 120 ART-naive HIV-1 infected adults. PBMC- or plasma samples from 88 patients yielded amplicons for the bulk sequencing reaction. Data are expressed as means ± S.D. and range in parentheses. Patients with CD4 counts <200/ml at sample date initiated ART if CD4 counts remained below 350/ml four weeks later.