I hope this hasn't been done already.
Found
this on Slashdot while catching up this morning.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by BBC News
Doctors say they want to investigate the case of a British man with HIV who apparently became clear of the virus.
Andrew Stimpson, 25, was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2002 but was found to be negative in October 2003 by Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust.
Mr Stimpson, from London, said he was "one of the luckiest people alive".
The trust said the tests were accurate but had been unable to confirm Scotsman Mr Stimpson's cure because he had declined to undergo further tests.
A statement from the trust said: "This is a rare and complex case. When we became aware of Mr Stimpson's HIV negative test results we offered him further tests to help us investigate and find an explanation for the different results.
"So far Mr Stimpson has declined this offer."
A trust spokeswoman added: "We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested.
"If he doesn't feel that he can come to Chelsea and Westminster then he should please go to another HIV specialist."
'Miracle'
There have been anecdotal accounts before from Africa of people shaking off the HIV virus.
Mr Stimpson, who is originally from Largs in Ayrshire, said: "There are 34.9 million people with HIV globally and I am just one person who managed to control it, to survive from it and to get rid of it from my body.
"For me that is unbelievable - it is a miracle. I think I'm one of the luckiest people alive."
Mr Stimpson told the News of the World and Mail on Sunday that he became depressed and suicidal after being told he was HIV-positive but remained well and did not require medication.
Further tests
Some 14 months later he was offered another test by doctors, which came back negative.
He sought compensation but has apparently been told there is no case to answer because there was no fault with the testing procedure.
He has told the papers he would do anything he could to help find a cure.
Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: "This appears to be a highly unusual case and without further tests it is impossible to draw any conclusions for people living with HIV.
"The virus is extremely complex and there are many unknowns about how it operates and how people's bodies react to it.
"Therefore, if this case were able to shed further light, it could be extremely valuable for research into treatments or a cure."
Vaccine clue
Aids expert Dr Patrick Dixon, from international Aids group Acet, said the case was "very, very unusual".
"I've come across many anecdotal reports of this kind of thing happening in Africa, some quite recently, but it's difficult to verify them," he told BBC News 24.
"You have to be rock-solid sure that both samples came from the same person, no mix-up in the laboratory, no mistakes in the testing, etc.
"This is the first well-documented case."
He said the case was important because "inside his immune system is perhaps a key that could allow us to develop some kind of vaccine".
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First of all, the notion that people are 'shaking off' HIV is quite remarkable, in my opinion. That the body can detect, assess and then fight off something such as HIV....well, at least it gives hope, yes?
Second, who exactly does this guy think he is? He has an opportunity to do something with his insignificant little life, a chance to maybe help all kinds of people and he's 'declined' to do further tests?
Let me say, I think a person should be able to do whatever the hell they want to do with their body. Get piss drunk for 20 years, shoot up...whatever, and smoke whatever floats your boat (as long as your willing to pay the conseqences, but that's neither here nor there), but isn't there a point, especially when it could mean a better future for world, where the obligation to your 'tribe' means more than your 'right' to privacy as long as the tests are within reason? I'm certainly not advocating cutting the guy up, but what could he possibly hope to gain from refusing to participate other than being able to thumb his nose at society because he thinks he's special. "I've survived HIV and you guys didn't, nyah, nyah." If that's the case, I hope he enjoys his next life as a dung beetle.
There's a good chance it's all poppycock to begin with as there's a dozen different things that can go wrong, but...what if it isn't? I can't imagine there's a good enough reason to not partake of a few tests for a bit if it means the chance of thing good for the world.