In a cross-sectional study of newly diagnosed HIV-infected outpatients at the HIV clinic at Connaught Hospital in Freetown (the main referral hospital in Sierra Leone), we previously documented a high prevalence (75%, n = 155) of late stage HIV presentation among newly diagnosed patients, defined as CD4 < 350 and/or the presence of an AIDS-defining illness at diagnosis [8]. The gene discussed is CD4; the disease is AIDS.