Table 1.

Demographic data of study participants:

	HIV Infected Deferred ART (N = 26)	HIV Infected Early ART (N = 64)	HIV-exposed uninfected (N = 28)	HIV-unexposed uninfected (N = 34)	P-value Comparing 4 groups
Gender:
Male	10 (39%)	28 (44%)	17 (61%)	19 (56%)	0.7
Mean Birth Weight, grams (range)	3019 (2000-3640)	2989 (2188 – 3790)	3057 (2166-3798)	3139 (2172-4294)	0.8
Gestation:
> 37 weeks	24 (96%)	50 (78%)	11 (71%)	21 (62%)	0.2#
≤ 37 weeks	1 (1 unknown)	11 (3 unknown)	17	13
Mode of birth
NVD	20 (77%)	55 (86%)	21 (75%)	29 (85%)	0.4
Caesarean section	6	9	7	5
Mean (SD) head circumference at assessment, centimetres (range)	46 (1.6) (44–52)	46 (1.5) (43–52)	46 (1.5) (42-48)	46 (1.9) (42–50)	0.4
Primary language:
Xhosa	24 (92%)	55 (86%)	19 (68%)	11 (29%)	0.5
Afrikaans	2	9	6	21
English	0	0	3	2
Maternal Education: Median years of formal schooling (range)	11.0 (4-12)	10.0 (1-12)	10.5 (5-12)	10.0 (6-12)	0.4
Mean(SD) absolute CD4 count on enrolment to CHER (range)	1746 (582) (746-2926) (n = 24)	2024 (1065) (358-5255) (n = 63)	n/a	n/a	0.5
Mean(SD) CD4 % on enrolment to CHER (range)	34.8 (7.9) (17.4-51.3) (n = 24)	34.9 (8,2) (21.6-53.9) (n=63)	n/a	n/a	1.0
Mean Viral Load (log10 RNA copies/ml) on enrolment to CHER (range)	5.66 (0.42) (4.21-5.88)	5.64 (0.41) (3.78-5.88)	n/a	n/a	0.8
Least Square mean (SD) age starting ART, weeks (range)	31.4 (16) (8-76)*	8.4 (1.6) (6-12)	n/a	n/a	<0.01
Mean (SD) time on ART in weeks (range)	18.7 (12.7) (0-40)	40.9 (5.1) (33-60)			<0.01
Hospital admissions: number participants admitted (% of group)	12 (46%)	19 (30%)	5 (18%)	6 (18%)	0.1
Mean days in hospital ±SE (range)	9.4 ± 0.06 (0-87)	2.4 ±0.08 (0-25)	0.8 ± 1.5	0.9 ± 1.4	<0.01***

^*Three participants who started ART after GMDS were included

^#Fisher test

^***Wald test (Poisson distribution with log link function)