China - Mystery disease in 6 provinces - HIV/AIDS ruled out - Epstein-Barr virus infection and reactive arthritis

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

This is likely a pretty bad forgery. If such an illness had been reported for over a year (since May of last year) and spread throughout China, one would think local Chinese news sources would have reported this one first. The content of the other China stories in this source scream to me that this one is an intentional fake. I wouldn't even call this a rumor - I think its intentionally fake.

[Commonground]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

Nawty: Good to see you here. You word is all I needed to hear.

Alert: Move on.

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

Nawty: Good to see you here. You word is all I needed to hear.

Alert: Move on.

OK. I'll take yours and Nawty's word for it. It's fake.

[sharon sanders]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

Thanks Nawty!

[Treyfish]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

We have seen many crazy stories coming from china and many are squashed. NDTV is known to be anti-china. This story is from the same province and it went away pretty quick...not aids related but an example of similar stories from china..kind of like SARS, hidden till it was a little bit too late..by Margeret Chan.. The current Director General of the W.H.O.

undiagnosed fatal disease: Yunnan, China

云南省兰坪县 Biyuhe 村一建筑工地有 10 个工人感染一种未知的致命疾病。

Lanping County, Yunnan Province, Village Builders Biyuhe has infected 10 workers in an unknown deadly disease.

他们近一个月前出现四肢麻木，头晕，发烧，腹泻和呕吐等症状。

Nearly a month before they appear numb limbs, dizziness, fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

截至 2009 年 2 月 28 日，已有 1 人死亡， 3 人有生命危险。

As of February 28, 2009, 1 dead, 3 people have life-threatening.

地方卫生当局正在调查他们的病因，但未能得出结论，而且对病人的血样、尿样及饮用水的检测表明，没有证据显 示这是一种传染性疾病。

Local health authorities are investigating their cause, but failed to come to the conclusion, but also the patient's blood, urine and drinking water testing indicates that there is no evidence that this is a contagious disease. http://tinyurl.com/q358gz

Ya got to remember..SF has been in the street for 2 months and yet china has only 61 confirmed cases

Syndicated news, Xinhua News Agency, June 4 - Ended at 22 o'clock on the 4th, the Mainland of China, a total of 61 cases of confirmed cases..http://tinyurl.com/p8boeq

Now.. I smell an outright lie...

[NawtyBits]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

We have seen many crazy stories coming from china and many are squashed. NDTV is known to be anti-china. This story is from the same province and it went away pretty quick...not aids related but an example of similar stories from china..kind of like SARS, hidden till it was a little bit too late..by Margeret Chan.. The current Director General of the W.H.O.

undiagnosed fatal disease: Yunnan, China

云南省兰坪县 Biyuhe 村一建筑工地有 10 个工人感染一种未知的致命疾病。

Lanping County, Yunnan Province, Village Builders Biyuhe has infected 10 workers in an unknown deadly disease.

他们近一个月前出现四肢麻木，头晕，发烧，腹泻和呕吐等症状。

Nearly a month before they appear numb limbs, dizziness, fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

截至 2009 年 2 月 28 日，已有 1 人死亡， 3 人有生命危险。

As of February 28, 2009, 1 dead, 3 people have life-threatening.

地方卫生当局正在调查他们的病因，但未能得出结论，而且对病人的血样、尿样及饮用水的检测表明，没有证据显 示这是一种传染性疾病。

Local health authorities are investigating their cause, but failed to come to the conclusion, but also the patient's blood, urine and drinking water testing indicates that there is no evidence that this is a contagious disease. http://tinyurl.com/q358gz

Ya got to remember..SF has been in the street for 2 months and yet china has only 61 confirmed cases

Syndicated news, Xinhua News Agency, June 4 - Ended at 22 o'clock on the 4th, the Mainland of China, a total of 61 cases of confirmed cases..http://tinyurl.com/p8boeq

Now.. I smell an outright lie...

Trey,

I agree with what you say, but this particular story just doesn't feel right to me. I plan to keep an eye out for it, but I just don't think it's something to be concerned about. I suspect a political agenda over a news or medical agenda.

JMHO.

[Treyfish]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

Probably never hear of it again. I don't trust NDTV..but don't trust china even more. I havent seen anything else on it neither. Maybe we will in a few days. Malariads or some other new mutations......

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

That outbreak in Yunnan was confirmed as trichinellosis from contaminated pork. PROMED covered it here.

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1202:3613020765006186::NO::F2400_P1202_CHECK_DISPLAY,F2400_P1202_PUB_MAIL_ID:X,76484

Trichinellosis, Yunnan province, China
--------------------------------------
[China has announced that the illness in Lanping (see ProMED-mail
20090303.0869) has been identified as trichinellosis. Below is a
translated excerpt of a Chinese-language article.]

Lanping County's 'infectious disease of unknown origin' has been
identified as trichinellosis.

Today [5 Mar 2009], the provincial CDC reported that it had completed
investigation of the group illness in Lanping County; 9 cases of
trichinellosis have been confirmed and there was one other death due
to severe illness. Surviving patients have improved after aggressive
treatment and the situation has been brought under control.

[Byline: Liu Qiyin]

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

It has now been five days since NTD posted that story, and no source, in any language has given us an update on this story. Even NTD itself did not post any follow-up story. PROMED is likely (in my opinion) to post this story in the next couple days.

The original NTD video has gone viral, in the sense of a viral video over the past few days, and has been posted on many blogs across the internet, as well as on YouTube. The original NTD site now lists this story as the most popular story on the site, likely as people trace the source from these blogs back to NTD.

While I no longer believe this is an outright hoax, I suspect this is a rumor that has been whispered down the lane for several generations. I would like to know the original event that started that rumor (an actual AIDS case possibly?). One can almost see some of the mutation of the story, as the second quote mentions that the disease can be spread "through bodily fluids such as saliva and sweat", and the summary in the first line of the article mutates that into that the disease is spread casually by "saliva and sweat", leaving out the words "bodily fluids".

The NTD source is certainly biased, but Google does feel they are reliable enough to call a news source, not just a website.

This story is spreading very widely across the Internet, whether it is true or not. I certainly would like to know the original story that gave birth to this viral video.

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

http://www.vsointernational.org/news/19608162/hiv-like-symptoms-could-be-purely-psychological-in-china

HIV-like symptoms 'could be purely psychological' in China10/02/2010

Doctors have suggested that people in China complaining of a HIV-like illness may simply be suffering from psychosomatic effects.

Hundreds of people have so far claimed they are suffering from the mystery disease, however Chinese authorities have dismissed the concerns as the result of guilt from sleeping with prostitutes.

According to the BBC, China has been accused of covering up outbreaks of illnesses in the past, such as with Sars, although many of the self-diagnosed victims of the bug have received negative test results from hospitals.

One unnamed man believed to have the condition told the news provider: "They've examined my organs, tested me for sexual diseases. I'm unwell, but the doctors can't explain why."

Meanwhile, more than 70 people were infected with HIV from contaminated blood supplies in China before a law was passed in 1998 stipulating that samples must be tested for the virus, Xinhua News reported in December.

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

I think we might all owe NTDTV an apology...

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/02/11/new-hiv-strain-all-in-the-mind-outbreak-of-hiv-paranoia-strikes-chinese-men/

? NCBI ROFL: The G-Spot: nature vs. nurture
Listening to Rush Limbaugh Kills Beetles? Appetite and Libido ?
New HIV ?Strain? All in the Mind: Outbreak of Paranoia Strikes Chinese Men
..Something nasty is in the air in China, and it isn?t the infamous smog. Sweeping the country is a new paranoia, in which men become convinced that they?ve contracted HIV, often blaming their infection on a visit to a prostitute. Hundreds of Chinese men have reportedly been visiting doctors and have refused to believe the evidence of negative HIV tests. So strong is their fear that some men wear masks or refuse to interact with their families for fear of transmitting the disease.

Although the men say they feel sick, doctors don?t believe they?re dealing with a hitherto unknown virus, explains the BBC:

They suspect extreme guilt or anxiety about an act the men are ashamed of ? sex with a prostitute ? is affecting their immune systems, making them feel ill.

Chinese hospital authorities like Cai Weiping, who works in the southern province of Guangdong, are mildly annoyed at the steady trickle of patients who are paranoid that they are HIV positive.

The BBC reports:

?They come to have tests again and again, wasting money. A real HIV sufferer may take 15 minutes to deal with. A patient with the phobia can take at least an hour, or as much as half a day of arguing before they go away.?

Though other countries have also had their fair share of AIDS paranoia, some experts say what is happening in China is the unique result of the country?s medical history: China?s government has covered up or underplayed the effects of infectious disease outbreaks in the past, like the SARS epidemic of 2003 or the avian flu. Others note that the Internet fans people?s paranoia and offers them a way to constantly air their troubles?real or otherwise

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

Looks like NTDTV did not concoct this story out of thin air after all...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8505998.stm

China's mystery HIV-like disease may be all in the mind

By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Shanghai



China has in the past been accused of covering up health problems
Hundreds of people in China believe they might have a new disease with HIV-like symptoms, but doctors suggest their illness could be the result of a mental rather than a physical condition.

The Chinese authorities have been accused of covering up respiratory illnesses like Sars in the past.

This time doctors are blaming a breakdown in trust between the medical profession and patients, who fear they are being lied to when their diagnostic tests come back negative.

One man convinced he has the condition insisted on meeting in an empty motel room. He tries to avoid public places to reduce the chances of transmission.

He wears a face mask - he suspects his virus is spread by close contact, through sweat or saliva. He thinks he caught it after he had sex with a female prostitute.

But he is not HIV positive - seven HIV tests have come back negative.

"I've been to many hospitals, I've had many tests. None of these has proved I'm ill," he explains.

Swelling up

"They've examined my organs, tested me for sexual diseases. I'm unwell, but the doctors can't explain why."

There are dozens of Chinese internet chat rooms filled with people who believe they have the same mystery illness.

"I joined the chat room because I was sure I had been infected with this virus," said another patient, who refused to meet face-to-face because, he said, he did not want to pass it to us.



The internet enables people to share, and worsen, their fears about illness
He started to feel ill several months ago, also after a visit to a prostitute, where he says he took precautions to avoid catching HIV.

"Twenty-four hours later I had a strong desire to vomit. I had headaches, I was dizzy, I could feel my internal organs were swelling up. I was in intense pain. This lasted months."

He thought he was HIV positive but was tested several times and there was no sign of HIV antibodies.

The man is unhappy with the response from the medical establishment in China and has tried to bring his illness to the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO) and researchers overseas, but with little success.

"Most of the doctors didn't have the patience to listen to my story," he complains, adding that he is sure the virus is spreading throughout the country.

HIV phobia

Both men are certain they are ill, but at the moment doctors do not think they are dealing with an unknown virus.



A real HIV sufferer may take 15 minutes to deal with - a patient with the phobia can take half a day of arguing

Dr Cai Weiping
They suspect extreme guilt or anxiety about an act the men are ashamed of - sex with a prostitute - is affecting their immune systems, making them feel ill.

Scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Shanghai started getting letters from the patients in August.

In early December, they began a study of five patients. So far they have ruled out HIV. The work is still continuing.

Last month, China's Centre for Disease Control tested a larger group of 60 patients. They too ruled out any connection with HIV.

Dr Cai Weiping is a senior Chinese HIV researcher based at the People's Number 8 hospital in the southern province of Guangdong.

He is concerned that growing numbers of patients with what he describes as "HIV phobia" are using up scarce resources.

"They come to have tests again and again, wasting money.

"A real HIV sufferer may take 15 minutes to deal with. A patient with the phobia can take at least an hour, or as much as half a day of arguing before they go away."

Some of the patients claim they have infected family members, friends or colleagues. Dr Cai is doubtful.

"What their relatives tell us about their own symptoms doesn't match what we have heard from the patients."

He believes the problem is psychological rather than physical.

"They think we are concealing an epidemic," he explains.

"In the past we were secretive about the spread of diseases. People didn't believe the numbers of infections we announced.

"Today that's impossible because China is now making much more effort to find patients who have HIV or other diseases."

'Real symptoms'

Although incidences of "HIV phobia" have been reported in other countries, the doctor believes conditions unique to China have produced a larger number of cases here.


I haven't been home for a month because I don't want to infect my family

Anonymous
Huge changes in the country's medical system in recent years have not worked well, a fact the government acknowledges.

They have left many patients suspicious of the motivations of the medical profession.

"Patients think doctors just see them as machines to make money out of, instead of being driven by a desire to cure them or to save life," says Dr Cai.

The internet has allowed large numbers of people who are frightened but have little expertise to share their fears and in the process heighten them.

But even if the doctor is right and the young man in the motel room is suffering simply from delusion, it is severe enough to leave him trapped behind his mask.

"I feel that I will die soon," he says.

"I haven't been home for a month because I don't want to infect my family. My doctors don't understand me. They say it's caused by fear, but my symptoms are real."

He is so scared he might spread what is wrong with him to others, he has started to withdraw from society.

Physical or mental, the effect of this condition is devastating for him.

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China - Rumour?

And here's an official Chinese source. This is definitely not a rumor - the question now is whether this is a cultural phenomenon because of fear of the HIV virus, or whether it is a new virus.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/6796681.html

AIDS fear afflicts thousands across China 14:27, October 28, 2009 Email | Print | Subscribe | Comments | Forum Increases the bookmarktwitter facebook
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By Sept. 30, 2008, China had 700,000 HIV carriers, of which 440,000 were unaware that they had been infected.


Recently, two articles with the same topic were hotly discussed on the Internet at the same time.

The topic circled a group of people who claimed themselves have contracted an “unknown HIV-like virus” that modern medical tests could not detect.

These people share their suffering, sought comfort, and leant on one another for support at the chat rooms on the Internet.

Group members of the chat rooms tend to have certain things in common: They develop AIDS-like symptoms after being involved in activities that put them at risk of potential exposure. None tests HIV positive, yet they feel anxious and fearful. They come to believe they are infected with a mysterious unknown virus and that the virus can spread through contact in everyday life, such as through sweat and saliva.

AIDS service centers in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Wuhan received thousands of such “patients” each year. The number keeps increasing, said Li Taisheng, an AIDS expert in Beijing and chief of the AIDS consultancy committee under the Ministry of Health.

Case one:

FEARS that he might have contracted HIV/AIDS have enveloped Hong Sheng’s life since one day last September, after he visited a prostitute while on a business trip to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

The nightmare began that very night when he found a blister in his mouth while brushing his teeth. Although it was gone on the second day, worries persisted. Twenty-one days later, noticeable changes in his health struck terror into his heart — he suffered night sweats, muscle aches, a rash on his forehead and lasting fatigue. He logged onto the Internet in a frantic search for information on AIDS and made the self-diagnosis that he had contracted the deadly and incurable disease.

He went to different hospitals and took seven HIV tests in the following three months, all of which told him he was virus-free.

Unconvinced, he consulted doctors about his persisting symptoms and was told they were a result of AIDS phobia.

“They [Hong’s doctors] said I was mentally ill and needed psychological treatment,” Hong said. “They had no idea what I was suffering.”

After trying various treatments, all unsuccessful, Hong came to the conclusion that he had contracted an “unknown HIV-like virus” that modern medical tests could not detect.

To his horror, Hong found the disease was contagious — his wife and only daughter developed similar symptoms. Both tested HIV negative, too. Nevertheless, the specter of the dread disease continued to take control of his life.

“I feel like the walking dead,” Hong said.

Case Two

One man nicknamed “Shenzhen God” on the Internet claimed he had unintentionally spread the virus to more than 20 of his 40 co-workers because he shared phones and dined with them.

But to his surprise his girlfriend, who lives with him, showed no symptoms.


What do the experts say?

“They don’t believe us when we tell them they don’t have HIV. We refer to them as suffering from obsessive AIDS phobia,” Cai Weiping, a department chief of Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital and a member of Li’s committee, said. “Most symptoms are psychosomatic. Some patients’ family members told me they were forceably taken to hospital because their spouses insisted they were sick, which was not true.”

According to the doctors, strong fear and anxiety can cause immunity deficiencies, which may lead to illness.

Gui Xi’en, a prestigious AIDS expert in China who won the 2003 Barry & Martin’s Trust prize, an English registered charity which promotes AIDS education, prevention and care, said tests showed the immunity index of this group of people was lower than average.

“HIV can damage a person’s immune system, but immunity deficiency is not necessarily equal to HIV,” he said.

“Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that some of them are infected by a kind of unknown virus as they themselves claim,” Gui said. “We don’t exactly know what causes their symptoms, but are 100 percent sure that they are not infected with HIV.”

Government's reaction:

These “patients” have successfully got into direct contact with Zeng Guang, head of epidemiology for Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in July.

“An increasing number of people are falling victim to the HIV-like virus. Failing to find effective treatment and feeling ignored, more patients are beginning to take retaliation against society by deliberately spreading the virus,” the letter said. “It jeopardizes the public health.”

Zeng said in an answering letter July 18 on the Internet that he was greatly concerned about the issue and would report to the Central Govenrment after a thorough investigation.

He summoned a meeting on the subject of the CDC’s AIDS experts July 23, at which all agreed that the matter needed immediate attention.

Source: People's Daily Online / Shenzhen Daily

[alert]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China

From the comments on:

http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/hiv-phobia/

[snip]

This just further proves the fact that the Chinese distrust their government. They actually believe that their government and doctors are concealing an epidemic from them. These people also need to be educated about HIV and how it is transmitted!

[snip]

Etiology of AIDS Phobia: Hypochondria generated by mistrust of authorities who lie (also generated by mistrust of one's sex partners.)

[snip]

HIV Phobia" is hardly a Chinese phenomenon! Those of us who have done lots of HIV testing in the US routninely see people at zero or negligible risk for HIV acquisition They repeatedly test because they have an anxiety disorder, and/or feel guilt and shame over their sexual behavior. They focus on improbable infection with HIV as a way of coping with their feelings. I call them "anxiety testers." They have also been called, "the worried well." Unfortunately, each negative test result offers these poor souls only temporary relief, because they will come to doubt the accuracy of the test results in a relatively short time and retake the test "to be sure." They need mental health services, not more HIV tests.

[sharon sanders]

Re: AIDS-like illness in Mainland China

Discussion here:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143849