Elite and viremic HIV-1 controllers in West Africa

Background: Data on HIV-1 controllers in Africa are scarce. We report the proportion of HIV-1 controllers in a group of adults prospectively monitored with frequent viral load measurements as part of a clinical trial in West Africa. Methods: For the Temprano trial, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive HIV-1 infected adults with no criteria for starting ART were randomized to start ART immediately or defer ART until the WHO starting criteria were met. Plasma viral load was measured every 6 months. The trial follow-up was 30 months. We considered all Temprano participants randomized to defer ART. Patients with all semestrial viral