The British tabloid News of the World claimed over the weekend that a 25-year-old Scottish man who was diagnosed HIV positive in August 2002 has taken tests that show the virus has been completely eradicated from his body.
“It's so amazing to think that one day I was staring death in the face and now I am waving it goodbye,” he told News of the World.
The paper alleges that Andrew Stimpson, who caught the virus from his boyfriend Juan, recently tested negative, baffling doctors. The paper reports that he wants to help doctors in the fight against AIDS by offering himself for research.
Hospital representatives talked to National Nine News over the weekend, offering a more cautious approach. Spokeswoman: “I can confirm that he has a positive and a negative test. I can't confirm with you that he's shaken it off, that he's been cured. When we became aware of his HIV-negative result, we offered him further tests to help us investigate and find an explanation. So far he has declined to do so. We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested.”
I'm First in the World to be Cured of HIV [news of the world]
Briton World's First to Beat HIV: Reports [national nine news]
The man who might hold the secret to defeating AIDS [independent]