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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / AIDS / May 2005

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Factors Known to Cause False Positive HIV Antibody Test Results

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PaulKing - 07 May 2005 22:42 GMT
Factors Known to Cause
False Positive HIV Antibody Test Results

1.Anti-carbohydrate antibodies 52,19,13
2.Naturally-occurring antibodies 5,19
3.Passive immunization: receipt of gamma globulin or immune (as
prophylaxis against infection which contains antibodies) 18, 26, 60, 4,
22, 42, 43, 13
4.Leprosy 2, 25
5.Tuberculosis 25
6.Mycobacterium avium 25
7.Systemic lupus erythematosus 15, 23
8.Renal (kidney) failure 48, 23, 13
9.Hemodialysis/renal failure 56, 16, 41, 10, 49
10.Alpha interferon therapy in hemodialysis patients 54
11.Flu 36
12.Flu vaccination 30, 11, 3, 20, 13, 43
13.Herpes simplex I 27
14.Herpes simplex II 11
15.Upper respiratory tract infection (cold or flu) 11
16.Recent viral infection or exposure to viral vaccines 11
17.Pregnancy in multiparous women 58, 53, 13, 43, 36
18.Malaria 6, 12
19.High levels of circulating immune complexes 6, 33
20.Hypergammaglobulinemia (high levels of antibodies) 40, 33
21.False positives on other tests, including RPR (rapid plasma
reagent) test for syphilis 17, 48, 33, 10, 49
22.Rheumatoid arthritis 36
23.Hepatitis B vaccination 28, 21, 40, 43
24.Tetanus vaccination 40
25.Organ transplantation 1, 36
26.Renal transplantation 35, 9, 48, 13, 56
27.Anti-lymphocyte antibodies 56, 31
28.Anti-collagen antibodies (found in gay men, haemophiliacs, Africans of
both sexes and people with leprosy) 31
29.Serum-positive for rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody (both found
in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoantibodies) 14, 62, 53
30.Autoimmune diseases 44, 29, 1O, 40, 49, 43
31.Systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, connective tissue disease,
dermatomyositis Acute viral infections, DNA viral infections 59,
48, 43, 53, 40, 13
32.Malignant neoplasms (cancers) 40
33.Alcoholic hepatitis/alcoholic liver disease 32, 48, 40, 10, 13, 49, 43,
53
34.Primary sclerosing cholangitis 48, 53
35.Hepatitis 54
36."Sticky" blood (in Africans) 38, 34, 40
37.Antibodies with a high affinity for polystyrene (used in the test kits)
62, 40, 3
38.Blood transfusions, multiple blood transfusions 63, 36, 13, 49, 43, 41

39.Multiple myeloma 10, 43, 53
40.HLA antibodies (to Class I and II leukocyte antigens) 7, 46, 63, 48,
10, 13, 49, 43, 53
41.Anti-smooth muscle antibody 48
42.Anti-parietal cell antibody 48
43.Anti-hepatitis A IgM (antibody) 48
44.Anti-Hbc IgM 48
45.Administration of human immunoglobulin preparations pooled before 1985
10
46.Haemophilia 10, 49
47.Haematologic malignant disorders/lymphoma 43, 53, 9, 48, 13
48.Primary biliary cirrhosis 43, 53, 13, 48
49.Stevens-Johnson syndrome 9, 48, 13
50.Q-fever with associated hepatitis 61
51.Heat-treated specimens 51, 57, 24, 49, 48
52.Lipemic serum (blood with high levels of fat or lipids) 49
53.Haemolyzed serum (blood where haemoglobin is separated from red cells)
49
54.Hyperbilirubinemia 10, 13
55.Globulins produced during polyclonal gammopathies (which are seen in
AIDS risk groups) 10, 13, 48 cross-reactions 10
57.Normal human ribonucleoproteins 48, 13
58.Other retroviruses 8, 55, 14, 48, 13
59.Anti-mitochondrial antibodies 48, 13
60.Anti-nuclear antibodies 48, 13, 53
61.Anti-microsomal antibodies 34
62.T-cell leukocyte antigen antibodies 48, 13
63.Proteins on the filter paper 13
64.Epstein-Barr virus 37
65.Visceral leishmaniasis 45
66.Receptive anal sex 39, 64
Christine Johnson, a researcher and author, compiled this list of
conditions documented in the scientific literature to cause positives on
HIV tests, and provides references for each condition.
Christine notes:
"Just because something is on this list doesn't mean that it will
definitely, or even probably, cause a false-positive. It depends on what
antibodies the individual carries as well as the characteristics of each
particular test kit.
For instance, some, but not all people who have had blood transfusions,
prior pregnancies or an organ transplant will make HLA antibodies. And
some, but not all test kits (both ELISA and Western blot) will be
contaminated with HLA antigens to which these antibodies can react. Only
if these two conditions coincide might you get a false-positive due to HLA
cross-reactivity.
There are conditions that are more likely than others to cause
false-positives. And there are some conditions that we aren't aware of yet
which may be documented in the future to cause false-positives. Some of
the factors on the list have been documented only for ELISA, while some
have been documented for both ELISA and Western blot (WB) tests.
People may be eager to argue that if a factor is only known to cause
false-positives on ELISA, this problem won't be carried over to the WB.
But remember, a WB is positive by virtue of accumulating enough individual
positive bands to add up to the total required by whatever criteria is
used to interpret it 39. So the more exposure a person has had to foreign
antigens, proteins and infectious agents, the more various antibodies he
or she will have in their system, and the more likely it is
that there will be several cross-reacting antibodies, enough to make the
WB positive.
It is to be noted that all AIDS risk groups (and Africans as well), but
not the general US or Western European population, have this problem in
common: they have been exposed to a plethora of foreign antigens and
proteins. This is why people in the AIDS "risk groups" tend to have
positive WBs (i.e., to be considered "HIV-infected") and people in the
population don't. However, even people in low-risk populations have
false-positive Western blots for poorly understood reasons 47.
Since false-positives to every single HIV protein have been documented 36,
how do we know if the positive WB bands represent the various proteins to
HIV, or a collection of false-positive bands reacting to several different
non-HIV antibodies?"
GMCarter - 08 May 2005 11:38 GMT
>Factors Known to Cause
>False Positive HIV Antibody Test Results

This was reviewed and found to be riddled with errors and nonsense.
You do not cite the original source, of course, which is from 1996.
Repeatedly cited, repeatedly refuted. Repeatedly reposted by Mark
without EVER being able to comment on the extensive refutations.

Not to say that some conditions won't cause a false positive. This
happens with EVERY diagnostic test. ALL of them. And HIV tests have a
high specificity and sensitivity.

        George M. Carter
PaulKing - 09 May 2005 06:59 GMT
"This was reviewed"

What utter nonsense. Who reviewed it?

You?
tsip29 - 09 May 2005 20:20 GMT
hi, paul

who reviewed the list you are giving! can  you also direct me to studys
that shows this !

also you have heard most of what is out there! can you tell me of studies
that have been done by dutch( =netherlands) resaerchers about hiv/aids.
PaulKing - 09 May 2005 07:00 GMT
"And HIV tests have a
high specificity and sensitivity."

You know that is a COMPLETE lie.
David Canzi -- non-mailable - 09 May 2005 22:21 GMT
>"And HIV tests have a
>high specificity and sensitivity."
>
>You know that is a COMPLETE lie.

http://www.randi.org/research/index.html

Signature

David Canzi

PaulKing - 09 May 2005 22:50 GMT
Your paranormal site link.

Well, if you believe in 'AIDS' I should have known you would believe in
the paranormal too.

You really do love nonsense.
David Canzi -- non-mailable - 10 May 2005 02:23 GMT
>Your paranormal site link.

Try reading enough of the site to find out what it's about.

Since you often claim to have telepathic powers, I thought you might
be interested in Randi's challenge.

Signature

David Canzi

Gary Stein - 10 May 2005 02:49 GMT
> In article
> <472281b28ca963b278d5164f1bf145a5@localhost.talkabouthealthnetwork.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Since you often claim to have telepathic powers, I thought you might
> be interested in Randi's challenge.

Paul read....you've got to be joking he has a hard enough time cutting and
pasting I doubt he spends much time actually reading. If he did he might
realize that he's totally wrong on just about every point he tries to make.

Gary Stein
PaulKing - 10 May 2005 04:00 GMT
"If he did he might  realize that he's totally wrong on just about every
point he tries to
make."

Was that a typo? Did you mean 'every point you make?'

Yes I do see that you are a total idiot.

Thanks for making the point.
PaulKing - 10 May 2005 03:58 GMT
"Since you often claim to have telepathic powers"

I have NEVER claimed any such thing. I don't believe in such nonsense.

Do you lie about everything?
David Canzi -- non-mailable - 10 May 2005 04:25 GMT
>"Since you often claim to have telepathic powers"
>
>I have NEVER claimed any such thing. I don't believe in such nonsense.

Here are three of your recent claims of telepathic power:

"You know the truth on this point"

"They are complete nonsense as you well know."

"You know that is a COMPLETE lie."

Signature

David Canzi

Alex - 10 May 2005 18:07 GMT
> "And HIV tests have a
> high specificity and sensitivity."
>
> You know that is a COMPLETE lie.

And contradictory. Usually, specificity and sensitivity
are inversely correlated (you have one at the detriment
to the other - hence the use of [sensitive] screening tests
and [specific] confirmation tests). Or so the theory goes.

Alex
GMCarter - 10 May 2005 22:23 GMT
>> "And HIV tests have a
>> high specificity and sensitivity."
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>to the other - hence the use of [sensitive] screening tests
>and [specific] confirmation tests). Or so the theory goes.

I would be delighted to see where you got this idea!

Doesn't seem to suggest that here:
http://www.cebm.utoronto.ca/glossary/spsn.htm

But it does go a way to explaining your typical statistical dithering.

        George M. Carter
David Canzi -- non-mailable - 11 May 2005 04:32 GMT
>>Usually, specificity and sensitivity
>>are inversely correlated (you have one at the detriment
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>But it does go a way to explaining your typical statistical dithering.

Alex is what's known as a "statistical outliar".

Signature

David Canzi

GMCarter - 11 May 2005 10:46 GMT
snip...
>Alex is what's known as a "statistical outliar".

<groan>
PaulKing - 11 May 2005 12:32 GMT
Unreliable Tests

A September 2004, San Francisco Chronicle article considered the "beauty"
of testing. It told the story of 59 year-old veteran Jim Malone,  who'd
been told in 1996 that he was HIV positive. His health was diagnosed as
"very poor." He was classified as "permanently disabled and unable to work
or participate in any stressful situation whatsoever."

In 2004, his doctor sent him a note to tell him he was actually negative.
He had tested positive at one hospital, and negative at another.

Nobody asked why the second test was more accurate than the first (this
was the protocol at the Veteran's Hospital). Having been falsely diagnosed
and spending nearly a decade waiting, expecting to die, Malone said,  "I
would tell people to get not just one HIV test, but multiple tests. I
would say test, test and retest."

In the article, AIDS experts assured the public that the story was
"extraordinarily rare." But the medical literature differs significantly.

The Numbers

In 1985, at the beginning of HIV testing, it was known that "68% to 89% of
all repeatedly reactive ELISA (HIV antibody) tests [were] likely to
represent false positive results." (New England Journal of Medicine.
1985).

In 1992, the Lancet reported ("HIV Screening in Russia") that for 66 true
positives, there were 30,000 false positives. And in pregnant women,
"there were 8,000 false     positives for 6 confirmations."

In September 2000, the Archives of Family Medicine stated that the more
women we test, the greater "the proportion of false-positive and ambiguous
(indeterminate) test results."

The tests described above are standard HIV tests, the kind promoted in the
ads. Their technical name is ELISA or EIA (Enzyme-linked Immuno-sorbant
Assay). They are antibody tests. The tests contain proteins that react
with antibodies in your blood.

False Positives

In the U.S., you're tested with an ELISA first. If your blood reacts,
you'll be tested again, with another ELISA. Why is the second more
accurate than the first? That's just the protocol. If you have a reaction
on the second ELISA, you'll be confirmed with a third antibody test,
called the Western Blot. But that's here in America. In some countries,
one
ELISA is all you get.

It is precisely because HIV tests are antibody tests that they produce so
many false-positive results. All antibodies tend to cross-react. We
produce anti-bodies all the time, in response to stress, malnutrition,
illness, drug use, vaccination, foods we eat, a cut, a cold, even
pregnancy. These antibodies are known to make HIV tests come up as
positive.

The medical literature lists dozens of reasons for positive HIV test
results: "transfusions, transplantation, or pregnancy, autoimmune
disorders, malignancies, alcoholic liver disease, or for reasons that are
unclear..." (Archives of Family Medicine. Sept/Oct. 2000).

"[L]iver diseases, parenteral substance abuse, hemodialysis, or
vaccinations for hepatitis B, rabies, or influenza..." (Archives of
Internal Medicine, August 2000).

The same is true for the confirmatory test the Western Blot. Causes of
indeterminate Western Blots include: "lymphoma, multiple sclerosis,
injection drug use, liver disease, or autoimmune disorders. Also, there
appear to be healthy individuals with antibodies that cross-react...."
(ibid).

Pregnancy is consistently listed as a cause of positive test results, even
by the test manufacturers." [False positives can be caused by] prior
pregnancy, blood transfusions...and other potential nonspecific
reactions." (Vironostika HIV Test, 2003).

Inflated Africa Numbers

This is significant in Africa, because HIV estimates for African nations
are drawn almost exclusively from testing done on groups of pregnant
women.

In Zimbabwe last year, the rate of HIV infection among young women
decreased remarkably, from 32.5 to 6 percent. A drop of 81 percent
overnight. UNICEF's Swaziland representative, Dr. Alan Brody, told the
press that, "The problem is that all the sero-surveillance data came from
pregnant women, and estimates for other demographics was based on that."
(PLUS News, August, 2004).

Flawed Samples

When these pregnant young women are tested, they're often tested for other
illnesses, like syphilis, at the same time. There's no concern for
cross-reactivity or false-positives in this group, and no repeat testing.
One ELISA on one girl, and 32.5 percent of the population is suddenly HIV
positive.

The June 20, 2004 Boston Globe reported "the current estimate of 40
million people living with the AIDS virus worldwide is inflated by 25
percent to 50 percent." It said that HIV estimates for entire countries
have, for over a decade, been taken from "blood samples from pregnant
women at prenatal clinics."

But numbers about "AIDS deaths, AIDS orphans, numbers of people needing
antiretroviral treatment, and the average life expectancy" are all taken
from that one test.

I've certainly never seen this in a VH1 ad.

At present there are about six-dozen reasons given in the literature why
the tests come up positive. In fact, the medical literature states that
there is simply no way of knowing if any HIV test is truly positive or
negative:

"[F]alse-positive reactions have been observed with every single HIV-1
protein, recombinant or authentic." (Clinical Chemistry. 37; 1991). "Thus,
it may be impossible to relate an antibody response specifically to HIV-1
infection." (Medicine International. 1988).

Ambiguous Results

And even if you believe the reaction is not a false positive, "the test
does not indicate whether the person currently harbors the virus."
(Science. November, 1999).

The test manufacturers state that after the antibody reaction occurs, the
tests have to be "interpreted." There is no strict or clear
definition of HIV positive or negative. There's just the antibody
reaction. The reaction is colored by an enzyme, and read by a machine
called a spectro-photometer.

The machine grades the reactions according to their strength (but not
specificity), above and below a cut-off. If you test above the cut-off,
you're positive; if you test below it, you're negative. So what determines
the all-important cut-off? From The CDC's instructional material:
"Establishing the cutoff value to define a positive test result from a
negative one is somewhat arbitrary." (CDC, 2003)
PaulKing - 11 May 2005 12:28 GMT
Funny how you call EVERYONE who does not agree with your insane views a
lier.

I expect in the absence of real facts it is the best you can do.
PaulKing - 11 May 2005 12:30 GMT
How can a test which DOES NOT TEST FOR ANYTHING BUT HARMLESS ANTIBODIES be
an accurate 'HIV' test?

Even you cannot believe that.
GMCarter - 11 May 2005 14:49 GMT
>How can a test which DOES NOT TEST FOR ANYTHING BUT HARMLESS ANTIBODIES be
>an accurate 'HIV' test?

LOL. Wow. That explains a lot too.

Antibodies, of course, aren't always harmless. Ever hear of autoimmune
disease?

Antibodies don't just happen--they're a response the body makes.

To an infection.

Like HIV.

>Even you cannot believe that.

Of course I can. But then, I have at least a small understanding of
the basics of infectious disease.

Someone who wallows in ignorance and denial, of course, would be
expected to remain obdurately stupid.

        George M. Carter
David Canzi -- non-mailable - 11 May 2005 16:11 GMT
>How can a test which DOES NOT TEST FOR ANYTHING BUT HARMLESS ANTIBODIES be
>an accurate 'HIV' test?

Syphilis tests detect harmless antibodies too.  Where's your point,
Oblio?

Signature

David Canzi

PaulKing - 11 May 2005 12:31 GMT
 
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