Longitudinal changes in plasma HIV RNA levels, CD4⁺T-cell activation levels, and CD8⁺T-cell activation in antiretroviral-untreated recently infected adults. Data are shown on all individuals who had a week-12 value and at least 24 weeks of observation (n = 41). The mean and standard error of the mean are shown in bold. Both plasma HIV RNA levels and T-cell activation levels tended to be variable during the first 12 weeks of observation (data not shown), followed by the emergence of a steady-state level.