Impact of assay sensitivity and time between viral load samples on potential reservoir reseeding during rebound.

a) We estimate how much re-seeding of the LR could occur between when viral rebound occurs and when it is detected, using a method for estimating LR sizes previously validated during acute infection [26]. We assume the LR size is very small (approx. zero) before interruption, though if it is larger these values represent the increase in size. LR size is measured as the frequency of infectious provirus among resting CD4+ T cells (IUPM = infectious units per million). We consider assay detection limits of 2 (dark blue), 20 (cyan), and 200 (red) copies/ml, and assume a worst-case scenario where viral load is just below this value at the last undetected sampling point. Smaller figures on the right show the b) viral load and c) CD4 count trajectories over time that generated the IUPM measurements in the larger figure. Time is measured relative to the time viral load reached the detection limit, and we assume detection does not occur until this value is surpassed.