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WHAT DOES ABNORMAL GENE HAVE TO DO WITH A SYMPTOMATIC 9 YEARS.
Jun 22, 2001
I was diagnosed HIV POSITIVE 9 YEARS AGO I AM A WOMAN, I HAVE HAD NO DECREASE IN CD4 AND NO VIRAL LOAD, DOCTOR HAS TAKEN PCR,AND DNA TEST BUT HAVE FOUND NOTHING. RETESTED 3 TIMES STILL POSITIVE ANTIBODY TEST. BELIEVE i WAS INFECTED 12 YEARS AGO. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NEXT, COULD IT BE AN ABNORMAL GENE? PLEASE ADVISE OF OTHER CASES OR WHY?
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Response from Dr. Pavia
You have an interesting problem. You have persistently positive antibody tests, but no evidence of virus by viral load testing, and also by DNA PCR, with a normal immune system.
First, I would want to see the RNA PCR (viral load test) repeated with an ultra sensitive assay, and I would repeat the DNA PCR. If these are again negative, it is possible you have a false positive antibody test ut are not infected.
Knowing for certain may be difficult. It could be interesting to see if you have one abnormal gene: CCR5-delta 32 mutation. If your have that gene, you may actually have been exposed to HIV and are in fact infected but with very low levels. It is very, very possible that you are not infected. More esoteric tests - lymph node biopsy and CD8 depleted coculture (as described by Bob Silicano and others) may detect virus even when other tests are negative.
Good luck
ATP
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