A man in the south-central
province of Binh Thuan, Vietnam, was surprised to find himself alive and
kicking 19 years after being diagnosed with HIV, so he retook the test to prove
himself negative.
65-year-old Tran Ngoc Khanh tested HIV-positive in 1997, when his province ran
a program to screen residents at high risk of being infected with the virus.
HIV infection is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which weakens people’s defense systems against infections, the most advanced stage of which is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) defined by the development of certain cancers, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Khanh said medical workers of Binh Thuan Province and Vinh Hao Commune, where he lived, had come to his door in July 1997 and asked for a blood sample for the test, which he assumed was due to his history of drug addiction.
When the results returned positive, Khanh said he experienced a mental breakdown and could not eat for days.
HIV infection is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which weakens people’s defense systems against infections, the most advanced stage of which is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) defined by the development of certain cancers, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Khanh said medical workers of Binh Thuan Province and Vinh Hao Commune, where he lived, had come to his door in July 1997 and asked for a blood sample for the test, which he assumed was due to his history of drug addiction.
When the results returned positive, Khanh said he experienced a mental breakdown and could not eat for days.
"Back in those days,
AIDS was frowned upon by the community and viewed as something extremely
terrible. People began looking at me differently," Khanh recalled.
Khanh said his family
stopped eating at the same table as him since they knew about his condition,
while his children also avoided using the only bathroom in the house.
"I didn’t dare to get
intimate with him anymore after hearing about the news, as it makes me cringe
whenever I think about HIV,” Khanh’s wife Le Thi Anh said. "He denied
having been engaged in any other relationship when I raised the question. They
say HIV patients get worn down very quickly, but he has looked healthy all
along," Anh recalled.
Khanh’s firstborn said he
had experienced distress, shame, and an inferiority complex after hearing about
his father’s condition.
"Nobody said a word
though we were all heavyhearted. We had to refrain from doing activities
together to protect each other," his son confessed.
Once every month, a medical
worker would visit Khanh to check on his ‘medical condition’, even advising him
to take medications to treat his ‘illness’, which Khanh refused, saying he felt
completely healthy.
"They would ask me
every time whether I was experiencing diarrhoea or any other symptom, but my
answer was always no," Khanh recalled.
His neighbors did not
believe Khanh’s words, however, as he said they had told each other about how
“HIV and AIDS kill people slowly, not immediately” to explain Khanh’s good
health.
"My husband and I were
too busy making ends meet to think about retaking the test,” Anh said.
"Our business was also affected, since customers were reluctant to come
near an HIV patient."
Khanh had worked as a
postman and run a small grocery store at home before opening a lottery agency
following the diagnosis, but business has been tough.
"Nobody wants to touch
the dish that I have had my chopsticks on at parties. Some blamed me for hiding
my illness all along. I have been living in shame for all those years,"
Khanh confessed.
On a sleepless night last month,
Khanh could not wrap his head around how he had been able to survive for 19
years in perfectly good health with HIV, and finally decided to catch the first
bus to Ho Chi Minh City the next morning to settle the disturbance once and for
all.
Three separate lab tests at three different major hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City in four days from May 16 to 19 all indicated that Khanh was HIV-negative, which came as a huge relief for the man, who described his feeling at the time as if he had just escaped the ‘death penalty’ and had been reborn to a whole new life.
Khanh then came to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Center of Binh Thuan Province, where he had been tested HIV-positive 19 years ago, and asked to be retested.
Three separate lab tests at three different major hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City in four days from May 16 to 19 all indicated that Khanh was HIV-negative, which came as a huge relief for the man, who described his feeling at the time as if he had just escaped the ‘death penalty’ and had been reborn to a whole new life.
Khanh then came to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Center of Binh Thuan Province, where he had been tested HIV-positive 19 years ago, and asked to be retested.
"If the center had
falsely tested me with HIV infection, then it’s their responsibility to correct
their mistake,” Khanh explained his decision.
Test results at the center
were returned on Monday, which also indicated that Khanh was negative. Nguyen
Thi Thanh Loan, acting head of the Medical Clinic of Vinh Hao Commune, said she
had instructed Khanh to inform the district medical clinic and the provincial
HIV Prevention Center to remove his name from the list of HIV patients under
monitor.
"Khanh has been under
our supervision for a long time, and has appeared to be in good health” Loan
said. “It is still not clear whether the positive result was a mistake or that
he was cured by taking medication."
Speaking with Tuoi Tre
(Youth) newspaper, Director of the Binh Thuan Province Health Department Nguyen
Quoc Viet said that if new test results show that Khanh is indeed negative with
HIV, then relevant authorities must announce the news publicly in his
neighbourhood.
According to lawyer Phan Minh, a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, Khanh can file a lawsuit demanding compensation for the false test result.
According to lawyer Phan Minh, a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, Khanh can file a lawsuit demanding compensation for the false test result.
"In the case of Tran
Ngoc Khanh, after determining that the test result was false, authorities must
announce the news in public in his neighborhood, apologize, and compensate him
for the spiritual and material loss that he has suffered. In addition, Khanh
can file a lawsuit demanding compensation for the 19 years of mental damage
that he has suffered due to the mistake," Minh explained.
Meanwhile, Director of the
HIV/AIDS Prevention Center of Binh Thuan Province Pham Thanh Thanh said there
were cases when the body of an HIV patient had cured itself of the disease
thanks to improved immunity, which he said was extremely rare and was still
inexplicable.
Some patients, Thanh said, had a mutated gene that could fight off causative agents of a number of different diseases, including HIV-related ones.
Commenting on the probability of a test returning false results, Thanh said each test sample had to go through a protocol dictated by the health ministry, so the chance of a mistake occurring is extremely small.
Source:Tuoitrenews
Some patients, Thanh said, had a mutated gene that could fight off causative agents of a number of different diseases, including HIV-related ones.
Commenting on the probability of a test returning false results, Thanh said each test sample had to go through a protocol dictated by the health ministry, so the chance of a mistake occurring is extremely small.
Source:Tuoitrenews
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