New Disease Spreading In China

[JackA]

Summary:

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read....is〈=eng

Event description (click that one and you'll get this):

A new infectious disease is spreading in large areas of Mainland China. Symptoms are similar to AIDS but it spreads faster between family members, even via bodily fluids like saliva. Mr. Lin from Yunnan Province caught a disease last May, unlike anything he had seen before. "This disease destroys immunity cells just like AIDS. The lowest amount of immunity cells of some patients is only 200, mine is 400. The doctor couldn't find many antibodies, so he called it 'Fear of AIDS' disease." Preliminary research shows that patients have symptoms of fatigue, chronic diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, and weakened immunity. But doctors cannot find any sign of the HIV virus. "A huge number of people caught the nameless virus but the doctors cannot make a thorough check. So they make a conclusion that it's a 'Fear of AIDS' disease. The symptoms are very much like those of AIDS."

Because the Chinese Ministry of Health doesn't recognize the disease, it has not carried out any investigation. However, patients feel very horrified and sad when they see their family members and friends become infected by coming into contact with their saliva or sweat. "We hope that media reports can pressure the relevant departments to pay more attention to the disease. Do not make any irresponsible conclusions and say it is caused by fear or psychological effect – it is a real virus. Many doctors, including doctors from Beijing also say this is an infectious disease." Doctors from mainland China also believe patients might catch the disease. However, the exact number of people infected remains unknown and what the mortality rate is, and how many have died from it.)

[JackA]

Same info here, but with video as well:

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_china...8526048776.html

[wasabi]

Let me be the first to call BS!

[mommysboy]

Let me be the first to call BS!

I don't know what to make of it either, but stop short of saying it's BS at this stage.

Immune deficiency was around a long time b4 somebody classified it as AIDS. I suppose this is non viral AIDS, something that people have postulated about since the first major outbreak and the botched attempt to classify everything as HIV.

So assuming it's not BS, what is causing the disease then?

Pretty sick joke if this does prove to be a lark I must say.

[wasabi]

Let me be the first to call BS!

I don't know what to make of it either, but stop short of saying it's BS at this stage.

Immune deficiency was around a long time b4 somebody classified it as AIDS. I suppose this is non viral AIDS, something that people have postulated about since the first major outbreak and the botched attempt to classify everything as HIV.

So assuming it's not BS, what is causing the disease then?

Pretty sick joke if this does prove to be a lark I must say.

There are dozens of diseases that create symptoms similar to the seroconversion phase of initially contracting HIV. For one mononucleosis. Furthermore the completely unsubstantiated anecdotal and speculative nature of this report immediately disqualifies it from serious consideration. It's sounds like a doctor who needs to go back to med school.

Edited June 5, 2009 by wasabi

[Sheryl]

The two sources cited are a Hungarian group which picks up reports from radio operators and does not as far as I can tell do any sort of fact checking. The other is a TV station based in the US focused on China and its report consists of anecdotal claims of 3 laypersons, no indication of any health officials having been interviewed and no indication of fact checking either.

So what we are left with is that 3 lay people in China are quaoted has having said that they and an unspecified number of other people have a disease which one gathers involves a reduced CD4 count in people who are HIV negative. There is a known condition referred to as "idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia " (ICL) which fits what seems to be described. Its cause is not yet known and its progression is not as severe as that of HIV-associated CD4 lymphocytopenia (AIDs), and the mortality associated with it is low. for that reason as well as that it is (or at least has been til now) rare, not much effort has gone into trying to find the causative agent.

AFAIK neither the CDC nor WHO have received any report of an increased incidence of ICL or something like it in China, but of course the Chinese government does not have a very good track record with regard to reporting of disease outbreaks, so who knows.