Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of 59 persons suspecting of being infected by the HIV virus despite having repeated negative laboratory findings / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To describe the epidemiologic characteristics and clinical manifestations of 59 persons recruited via an intemet chat group who complained of AIDS-like symptoms, so as to formulate effective intervention strategies and measures. Methods Case was defined as onset of any three of the following self-reported AIDS-like symptoms in a member of relevant "intemet chat groups": persistent low grade fever, rash, swollen lymph node, fatigue, diarrhea, weight loss and low CD4+T count. We administered an internet-based questionnaire, and invited 59 of the 88 casepersons for voluntary physical examination and laboratory testing. Results The 59 case-persons came from 22 provinces; 54 (91.5 %)were men; the median age was 34 (range: 22-53)years; 84.7% of them had high-risk sexual behaviors before the onset of self-reported symptoms. The median time interval from exposure to onset was 15 d (range: 1-365 d). Blood specimens for all the 59 case-persons were tested negative for HIV and syphilis antibodies. There was also no evidence of Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus infection. One case-person was tested positive for hepatitis C virus antibody. The average CD4'T lymphocyte count was 707/μl. Of the 59 case-persons,57 (96.6%) sought medical care from multiple providers; 40 were diagnosed to have no physical disorders. Conclusion None of the 59 case-persons had any evidence of infection with HIV or any other infectious agents that could explain their self-reported symptoms.