Man Cures Himself of HIV?

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."

How sure?

[jrockway (229604)]

What if the test was wrong? Maybe he didn't have AIDS when first tested, or maybe the test didn't pick it up this time. And why is the guy afraid to be retested?

Re:How sure?

[Crizp (216129)]

As TFA said; he became depressed and suicidal when he got diagnosis. Then, he learns that it has gone away. I suspect that he's afraid that the next test he takes will be positive; probably not able to cope with that.

It's always a possibility the first, or second test was erroneous.

Science subject

[Crizp (216129)]

Most likely, if he agreed to testing, they'd only need a blood sample now and then. Take a pint. Instant research material, fresh from the cooler, for ages.

Re:Science subject

[leenoble_uk (698539)]

A PINT! That's nearly a whole armful.

Re:How sure?

[nacturation (646836)]

No research necessary -- the answer is in plain sight: "A 25 yr old British man could be the first people...

Clearly this man is more than one person, judging by the use of the word "people" when referring to an individual. Perhaps when the man was first tested it was his second person they tested. Upon subsequent tests, it's his first person. Case closed! Another fine caper solved by ScuttleMonkey.
 

Re:Wait

[Propagandhi (570791)]

Are you saying that if you could help scientists to cure a disease that's killing hundreds of thousands of people every year by devoting a big chunk of your time, you WOULDNT do it?

Hey man, didn't you read the GP!? He wants a normal life. Can't you understand that watching 10-12 hours of TV a week, working some shitty job, and breeding is more important than curing a disease which will destroy millions of lives?

No need to ask

[archeopterix (594938)]

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.

Refused?

[Carthag (643047)]

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.

Re:Refused?

[Pieroxy (222434)]

This is slashdot. It's not about accuracy.

Patent...

[xyvimur (268026)]

Maybe he should patent himself, his DNA and other things ;)

Most likely explanation

[Zog The Undeniable (632031)]

Occam's Razor suggests that the original tests were wrong. I know he had multiple tests, but they're not 100% accurate.

There's something fishy about the way this story is being stage managed by the News Of The World (a notoriously downmarket and sensationalist paper). I predict an expose and retraction within the week.

Article lacking in details

[antifoidulus (807088)]

For example, what kind of test did he use? Most of the HIV tests actually test for antibodies, not the HIV virus itself. It is completely possible, and does happen on occaision, that the body will produce antibodies that are similiar to HIV antibodies but there is no HIV in the body. The antibodies don't do anything, but they do confirm the presence of the virus. The body then could have later stopped producing the antibodies.

Editorial error

[by Anonymous Coward]

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.

I knew it!

[scooter.higher (874622)]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster proves once again that evolution does not happen by chance! This man must be a pirate, or a Pastafarian at a minimum!

First? What about the African Prostitutes et.al.?

[Xyleene (874520)]

I'm sure I am not the only one that has seen documentries that include African prostitutes that have gathered a similar immunity to the virus. One of them was a Nova episode that aired on PBS last week (atleast I think it was last week). The women are exposed to the disease many times per day but seem unnafected by it. This sounds like a similar case for the following reasons:

Article [aegis.com]

The article states that 1) The prostitutes are completely void of the virus and 2) The trait is not genetic. Therefore I assume that the people contract the virus and their immune system then deals with it. In this man's case if the first test was done before his immune system kicked in and the second one after then this could explain the result.

P.S. I am not a doctor or in the medical field so I leave myself open to corrections. (and not just for my english ;0)

Re:First? What about the African Prostitutes et.al

[ilitirit (873234)]

I leave myself open to corrections

Addendum: Prostitutes lose HIV immunity [bbc.co.uk]

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

Maybe...

[HaveQuick (755912)]

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.

Man Cures Self of Aids

[AliasMoze (623272)]

He's a witch!!!

Obligatory...

[Llywelyn (531070)]

But does he weigh more than a duck?

Infect Him Again

[ibemonty2000 (902165)]

Lets infect him again and see if he can go 2 for 2. -Monty

Re:Infect Him Again

[rkww (675767)]

He's already tried. According to the NotW [newsoftheworld.co.uk] 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.

Re-Infect Him, yet again

[TiggertheMad (556308)]

He's already tried.

Well, damn, I'm impressed.

Perhaps we should hit him with a dose of Anthrax and see if his immune system can whip up a cure for that, too while we are at it...

Re:Infect Him Again

[Senjutsu (614542)]

Well, it says that after he got the negative result, he sued the hospital for fucking up the first time and making him think he had AIDS. The article goes on to say "The results came back negative and Mr Stimpson began legal action against the trust, convinced there had been a mistake with the original diagnosis. But an extensive investigation, including DNA testing on his blood samples, has confirmed all the results". I'm not sure if that means "DNA testing to confirm both samples were his" or "DNA testing for vDNA pairs produced by the RNA transcription of the virus".

Re:It's not surprising

[caenorhabditas (914198)]

Actually, knowing a bit about the mechanisms both the Yersinia pestis bacteria and HIV use to cause illness, it's not surprising that developing a resistance to one causes resistance to the other. Both attack the same T cells in the immune system, and both even bind to the same CD4 receptor of the T cells. Thus, mutations in the CD4 receptor that are still functional to the organism but disallow the binding by the pathogen would create a form of immunity.

Certainly, not every form of plague immunity would translate to HIV immunity, but because of the similarities between the two pathogens, some types do transfer.

Re:This guy wants compensation?!

[Senjutsu (614542)]

Uh, no. He sued them when the first negative test came back, on (what would normally be) the sound theory that was evidence that the original positive test had been botched. The hospital then did extensive testing on both the positive and negative samples, at which point they came to the stunning conclusion that both results were correct. The lawsuit ended at that point.