About the Authors

Sandra Mathis

Affiliation Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Bettina Khanlari

Affiliation Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Hygiene, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Federico Pulido

Affiliation HIV Unit, Hospital 12 de Octubre, i+12, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Mauro Schechter

Affiliation Departement de Medicina Preventiva da Facultade de Medicina, Universida Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Eugenia Negredo

Affiliation Fundació Lluita Contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain

Mark Nelson

Affiliation Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, United Kingdom

Pietro Vernazza

Affiliation Division of Infectious Diseases, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Pedro Cahn

Affiliation Fundacion Huesped, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jean-Luc Meynard

Affiliation Service de Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France

Jose Arribas

Affiliation Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital la Paz, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain

Heiner C. Bucher

bucherh@uhbs.ch

Affiliation Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Competing Interests

Heiner C. Bucher has received travel grants, honoraria and unrestricted research grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Gilead, Roche, Abbott, Tibotec, Boehringer-Ingelheim and ViiV Healthcare. Federico Pulido has received consulting and lecture fees from Abbott, Bristol- Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, and Roche. Pietro Vernazza has received travel grants and honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Gilead, Abbott, Tibotec, and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Jose Arribas received grant research support, advisory and speaker fees from Abbott, Gilead, ViiV Healthcare, Tibotec, Janssen, Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Pedro Cahn has served as advisory board member for Avexa, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Myriad, Merck, Pfizer, Pharmasset, Schering Plough, and Tibotec. He has served as an investigator for Avexa, Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Merck, Pfizer, Pharmasset, Schering Plough, Tibotec, Abbott, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has served as a speaker (content and design performed by the speaker, no company control) at meetings organized by Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, and Tibotec. He has served as a scientific advisor for Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Avexa and Tibotec. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SM BK HCB. Performed the experiments: SM BK HCB. Analyzed the data: SM BK HCB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: FP MS EN MN PV PC JLM JA. Wrote the paper: SM HCB. ICMJE criteria for authorship: SM BK HCB FP MS EN PV MN PC JLM JA. Results and conclusions: SM HCB FP JA. Enrolled patients: FP MS EN PV MN PC JLM JA. Full access to data in the study and responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis: HCB. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: SM BK FP MS EN MN PV PC JLM JA HCB. Statistical analysis: SM HCB. Obtained funding: HCB. Study supervision: HCB.