OW 73 - Outweek.net

•
. '.'
are peop!e who are biolpgiCal out wires, who may nOt react
the way· ot~ers do, - says Mayer, who is also chief of
infectious diseases at the Memorial Hospital. in Pawtucket,
RI.. He adds that there are' no reports of people remaining
antibody-negatiVe despite haVing AIDS symptoms, what he
called the -do-not-pass-go- phenomenon. He stresses that 99
'I percent of those with silent HIV will develop antibodies
within a year of testing.
One new antibody test has garnered curiosity in the
• •
medical community. In May, researchers from Emory
University in Atlanta published a paper in the Proceedings of
tbe National Academy of Sciences reporting on a technique
,
that they used to discern HIV antibodies-pokeweed
mitogen assay-which revealed 18 percent more positive
, results when compared with the same blood subjected to the
\ EUSA!Western blot. In a~other study published about a year
. .1
,
,
,
,
l
,
•
. .
ago, resear~ers using an aptibody test that seeks out a gene
protein called tax, not detected with ELISA!Western blot,
, found HIV antibodies ., in 7 of 162. (i1 percent) . high-risk,
antibody-negative subjects: But as with 'all studies, critics are
\ "
,,
•
,
,
One experimental new
test -pokeweedmitogen
assay revealed 18percent
•
more positive 'results compared 1
, '
with the same blood subjected to
, \
.ther current test•
• •
•
, ,
not satisfied until the results are duplicated and the study
design is without flaws. Their skeptiCism is fueled by the fact
that no Widespread aberrations in the progression of HIV are
occurring. "If the Emory ~tudy is true,· Mayer comments,
"we'd have to re