Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Man Cures Himself of HIV?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hoaxes-and-other-pleasant-fiction dept.

IZ Reloaded writes "A 25 yr old British man could be the first person in the world to have cured himself of the deadly HIV virus. He was diagnosed HIV positive in 2002. After another test done the following year, he stunned doctors when his test results turned negative. He is now a wanted man after researchers and doctors want him to come back for further testing but he has so far refused. Experts think he could have something in his immune system that may help in producing vaccines against HIV."

9 of 909 comments (clear)

  1. Refused? by Carthag · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't know where you get this, I saw an interview with him last night on TV, and he said he wanted to help other people, and that he was cooperating with scientists to figure out what caused the virus to disappear.

  2. Editorial error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    From headline:

    He is now a wanted man after researchers and doctors want him to come back for further testing but he has so far refused.


    From TFA:

    He has told the papers he would do anything he could to help find a cure.
  3. Re:Infect Him Again by rkww · · Score: 5, Informative
    He's already tried. According to the NotW Mr Stimpson said, "I'd read the research, I knew it had never happened before. I didn't understand how I could be negative after one year especially because I had been having unprotected sex with my [infected] partner after the diagnosis, believing we had nothing to lose."

    He was going in for repeat tests every two months, so his status is well documented.

  4. No need to ask by archeopterix · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you found out you had HIV, would you ask for a retest just to be sure it wasn't a mistake?
    No need to ask for a retest. The standard procedure is to perform a retest if the first test is positive.
  5. Maybe... by HaveQuick · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is possible that this guy could have cured himself of HIV. There are a number of possibilities...

    1) He was infected with a weakened serotype of HIV.
    2) He has some unusual CCXR gene polymorphisms or some other gene defect leading to reduced ability of HIV to replicate, or the ability to clear the virus.

    It is possible the original test was wrong. However, in virtually all labs I know of, on a positive test there is a repeat and follow up test done. This normally a western blot. So, the odds of the result being wrong is exceedingly low.

    If this is for real... this guy is the luckiest son of a bitch alive.

  6. Re:First? What about the African Prostitutes et.al by ilitirit · · Score: 5, Informative

    I leave myself open to corrections

    Addendum: Prostitutes lose HIV immunity

    A group of prostitutes thought to be immune to HIV have now become infected, causing dismay to scientists hoping to develop an Aids vaccine.

  7. CXCR4 mutation? by De_Boswachter · · Score: 5, Informative

    CCR5 is a key receptor for HIV entry in cells (macrophage-like) relevant for viral dissemination. Indeed, the man could have some form of CCR5 variant. My guess is that they already checked for the delta32 version and that they're drawing a lot of blood from this guy and doing a lot of DNA sequencing.

    I've always wondered whether there would be a similar mutation on the CXCR4 receptor, which is another key receptor. This one's in cells (helper T-cell-like) that are relevant for the persistence of HIV in the body. Since, apparently, the virus was able to get into the bloodstream of this man, my two cents would be that CXCR4 rather than CCR5 could play arole in this phenomenon of self-healing.

  8. Tests Were Accurate by John+Leeming · · Score: 5, Informative

    These tests are redundant to prevent misdiagnosis; I know, because I've got a "false positive" condition that comes up as AIDS too often. Rather than going to one source, look to others for more information.

    Then look up "John Moore" in the "human patent" case to see what this poor sap is in for...

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-18703 40,00.html#121

    "Stimpson was tested three times in August 2002 at the Victoria clinic for sexual health in central London and the results showed he was producing HIV antibodies to fight the disease."

    "In October 2003, after impressing doctors with his good health, Stimpson was offered a new test, which came back negative. Further tests in December 2003 and March last year also proved negative."

    "The tests were re-checked by the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust when Stimpson threatened litigation believing there must be a mistake, but the results confirmed all the tests had been accurate."

    --
    "Eustace? Eustace? Are you there? Are you there?" = John Leeming
  9. Re:How sure? by somersault · · Score: 5, Informative

    From BBC News website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4432564.stm) "He has told the papers he would do anything he could to help find a cure." Sounds to me like he's not being as much of a piece of shit as people here led me to believe =p

    --
    which is totally what she said