wow this could change the way we see HIV from now on, instead of this incurable thing mabe in 20 or so years we will of found how he managed to destroy the HIV and then find a way to replicate that in lab conditions and then finally in a way that can be administered to the general public =] i hope if the cure is found that chemical companies that produce medical substances will make this into a priority and find the fastest way possible to get it into the shops.
That this case is remarkable is true as it is not at all the normal course of things seen. What also is known is there are a number of people who are HIV + and have been for now about 30 years, yet have no symptoms of illness and the viral load in the blood is low compared to others. But the clearing of the infection is of interest for sure. There are essentially 3 forms of HIV in humans, mutations over time and each though generally acts upon the body in a like manner, each also has its own quirky way. It could be that an infection of a given sub form of the HIV was able to be overcome by the body of this fellow, or there was another mutation and became weakened against the body's immune system. Different questions, different answers. PS- Oh great- didn't even look at the date on the article. Ooops! but still what I said remains valid. It would be great to see somehow the body naturally mount a workable defense with viable antibodies. it is rather difficult for the establishment of a vaccine or other means of treatment so far. As some have said, it would be great if this proves out to be more than just a passing curiosity, but for now, just hold your breath and see what develops.
Well true or not true, the advancements toward HIV have been remarkable! We can be really appreciative for that!
Yes - I remember this hitting the headlines - and, as can be seen, it was 2 years ago. Given that there has been no further "news" from this case I thought I'd do a little investigation - and "Avert" (which I would think should be reliable) had the following info: Full link: http://www.avert.org/cure-for-aids.htm Spontaneous cures: Andrew Stimpson Occasionally there are reports of HIV seeming to vanish for no obvious reason. One especially sensational story broke on 13th November 2005, when two British newspapers reported that a 25-year old Scot, Andrew Stimpson, had become the first person to be cured of HIV infection.72 73 In interviews with the two papers, Stimpson said he first suspected he might have HIV in 2002, after several weeks of feeling tired and feverish. Knowing his partner had been HIV positive for a number of years, Stimpson visited the Victoria Sexual Health Clinic in London for an HIV antibody test in May. The result was negative, but he was encouraged to return for further tests, as HIV antibodies often do not appear in the blood until several weeks or even months after initial infection. In August 2002, Stimpson returned for three more HIV antibody tests. His first, taken on the 15th, was “indeterminate” (i.e. neither definitely positive nor negative), but the following two (taken on 20th and 23rd August) both found him to be HIV antibody positive. However, a viral load test showed the amount of virus in his blood was low, so he was not prescribed antiretroviral therapy. He made a personal choice to start taking multivitamin and mineral tablets and other dietary supplements. For fourteen months Stimpson remained surprisingly healthy, so much so that, in October 2003, his doctor offered him a repeat test for HIV antibodies. Remarkably, the test came back negative. Two more, carried out in December 2003 and March 2004, also gave negative results. Andrew Stimpson tried to launch a legal case against the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust (CWT) which had tested him, assuming his results had been mixed up with those of another client. The blood samples associated with his original positive diagnosis and his subsequent negative results were retested, and the DNA from the samples compared to his. All the samples were found to belong to Stimpson, and retesting produced the same “positive then negative” antibody results. According to Stimpson: “After the repeat tests my doctor came into the room saying, ‘You’ve cured yourself! This is unbelievable.'" Andrew Stimpson’s story became an overnight media sensation. But a statement from the CWT cast doubt on the cure claims: “It is probable that there was never any evidence of Mr Stimpson having the HIV virus but rather that there was transient evidence of an antibody response to the virus present in his bloodstream when he had the initial tests... The antibody testing is exquisitely sensitive and the smallest measure can be recorded which is probably what happened in this case.” A spokesperson for the CWT later said they had not categorically stated that Andrew Stimpson’s case was an example of a false positive test result, but that it was one of a number of scenarios that needed to be considered. The media quickly accepted the “false positive” explanation, and by the end of the month the story had ceased to be of interest to them. The only news since then dates from June 2006, when the Guardian newspaper reported that Stimpson was still working with doctors, but that because of medical confidentiality, very little more was known about the case. However, Anna Maria Geretti, a clinical virologist at the Royal Free Hospital, was willing to speculate: “These follow-up tests are very complicated. They could take over six months. But personally, I’m sceptical that they will find a cure from this case.”77 The most likely explanation remains the occurrence of a highly unusual false positive antibody test result. This may happen if the test detects a non-HIV antibody (i.e. a similar antibody produced against a different virus) or, theoretically, because there are somehow HIV antibodies present without an actual HIV infection. Occasionally a false positive may be the result of a faulty test, though a second backup test would normally eliminate this possibility. Although receiving three false positive results would be exceedingly unusual, some scientists believe it is more plausible than a spontaneous cure. In any case it’s extremely unlikely that, as some newspapers suggested, the multivitamins and dietary supplements that Andrew Stimpson took would have had any effect on his “seroreversion” (the process of going from HIV antibody positive to HIV antibody negative). Millions of people living with HIV take multivitamins and minerals; while such supplements may help to maintain good general health, there is no evidence that they can eliminate HIV infection.