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From todays Sunday People (UK)..



13th November 2005

HIV VIRUS BRIT FIRST TO BE CURED



A BRITISH man has become the first in the world to be CURED of the killer HIV virus.



Andrew Stimpson, 25, has miraculously tested negative for the disease after being diagnosed with it over a year ago.

The development will bring fresh hope to millions dying of AIDS.

The test on Andrew, of Largs, Ayrshire, was repeated because doctors could not believe it.



AIDS charity the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "Nobody's ever spontaneously cleared themselves of HIV."

Andrew - who caught the virus from a boyfriend - is volunteering for tests to unlock the secret of how his body cured itself.





He said: "I was staring death in the face. Now I'm waving it goodbye."

I read about that. It makes me wonder if his test results didn't get mixed up with someone elses in the first place and some other poor soul is walking round thinking he's clear.

I was thinking that too. I wonder how many people the one that thought he didn't have HIV could be spreading it to too.

I would rather think it was a miracle...or is that naive of me?

he's refusing follow-up testing-----Caution over HIV 'cure' claims





Andrew Stimpson said he was one of the luckiest people alive



Doctors say they want to investigate the case of a British man with HIV who apparently became clear of the virus.

Scotsman Andrew Stimpson, 25 was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2002 but was found to be negative in October 2003.

Mr Stimpson, from London, said he was "one of the luckiest people alive".

Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust confirmed the tests were accurate but were unable to confirm 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.

IF this is some sort of miracle or the body's way of curing HIV, he's terribly selfish for not allowing further testing that may help others.

Well one can hope............

My brother has been HIV+ since 1987 and is a poster boy for UCLA's medical school for surviving this long.

Like I say "one can hope".......

BTS wrote: Well one can hope............

My brother has been HIV+ since 1987 and is a poster boy for UCLA's medical school for surviving this long.

Like I say "one can hope".......That's all we can do BTS, hopefully he has many more to come.

Im hoping that his body developed an antibody and it could be recreated for others living with this terrible disease

My brother died in 1988- he said he felt like a human guinea pig- getting poked and prodded, given this cocktail and then yet another...He lost his fight on July 5th, 1988 -just 5 days after my 16th birthday...How vivid the memory -when he would tell us about the medicine that the doctors said THIS TIME would cure him.....the cure never did come......... Here is hoping your brother defies all odds...BTS- I will be thinking of him.

Let's hope that it is a cure or treatment that can be used on patients everywhere, especially your brother BTS.....