Last October my 28 year old daughter tested positive for HIV. She has tested positive on two subsequent Western Blots. Her doctor says the bands come up immediately. Her sexual partners have tested negative. She has had no blood transfusions or needle use. The time of her suspected infection is totally unknown. She has no opportunistic infections. Her viral load is undetectable (3 tests) and her CD4 is totally normal (3 tests). She recently had a HIV culture that came back normal and a bDNA that had no detectable viral load. She will soon have a CD8 depleted culture. She tested positive on the ELISA for HIV 2 but negative for HIV 2 on the Western Blot. She had a severe case of chicken pox 5 years ago when she was 23. Could the antibodies resulting from this disease cause a positive Western Blot?

Dear Concerned Mother:

I can certainly understand your concern for your daughter. What you describe is rather unusual. A preceding viral infection, in this chicken pox or varicella, should not cause a positive test result in an HIV-1 Western Blot assay. It is not common for patients to have undetectable viral loads in the absence of therapy but it has been reported. It appears that your daughter is undergoing a thorough evaluation by someone who is knowledgeable in this area.

KES