The results of this study show that sequence variation and escape occur much more frequently than reduction in the avidity of T cell responses during the first year of HIV infection, suggesting that escape represents a more important means of viral evasion of CD8+ T cell control in acute/early HIV infection (although other mechanisms, such as a decline in the functional capacity of virus-specific CD8+ T cells may also contribute to impairment of T cell control of HIV replication during early infection). Here, CD8A is linked to infection.