AIDSTruth.org - Site news

Another myth debunked: HIV is a harmless passenger virus

Eduard Grebe — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:17:18 +0000

Fact: Studies in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo all support HIV's ability to deplete CD4+ T-cells.

There are some denialists that argue that HIV does exist but that it is merely a harmless passenger virus and that no evidence exists to claim otherwise. In fact, there are thousands of studies that support the cytopathic properties of HIV. While some aspects of how HIV destroys cells that are not fully understood, that it does so it beyond doubt. This is not unique to HIV, of course, as the effects of many diseases are known despite the mechanisms not being completely elucidated. Some of what is known (and supporting evidence will be cited) is the documented here. Since there are literally thousands upon thousands of papers on HIV, a representative few are cited here. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Evidence shows us that AIDS the CD4+ T-cell depletion is due to HIV. This can be observed 1) in vitro (in cell cultures), 2) ex vivo (in tissues removed from animal models or patients), and 3) in vivo both in animal models and in infected individuals.

Read the full debunking here.

View the list of myths we debunk here.

Another myth debunked: HIV tests are unreliable and frequently produce false positives

Eduard Grebe — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:41:44 +0000

Fact: HIV tests for antibodies or the virus itself are highly reliable (both in terms of sensitivity and specificity).

There are two important measures when considering the accuracy of an HIV test or any screening or diagnostic test: sensitivity and specificity.

Two different HIV rapid tests both showing a positive result

Sensitivity is a measure of how likely it is that the test will return positive results if the person being tested has HIV. A highly sensitive test is calibrated to capture every positive sample, but will probably produce some false positives because it is so sensitive that may react to other substances as well.

Specificity is a measure of how likely it is that the test will return negative results if the person being tested does not have HIV. A highly specific test will only react to the substance being tested for and exclude all true negatives, but it will also produce false negatives.

Read the full debunking on the myths page.

Another myth debunked: HIV can be detected post-mortem

Eduard Grebe — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:54:33 +0000

In the light of recent developments, we have addressed the myth that HIV cannot be detected post-mortem on our Debunking denialist myths page.

Myth #15: HIV cannot be detected post-mortem

HIV can be detected post-mortem with a high degree of accuracy. This is very important because deceased tissue donors need to be tested to ensure that tissue recipients are not infected with HIV. See:

Preventing disease transmission by deceased tissue donors by testing blood for viral nucleic acid.

Welcome to the new AIDSTruth.org

AIDSTruth — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:08:05 +0000

This website presents the scientific evidence that HIV is the cause of AIDS and that benefits of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) outweigh the risks. The website was created by research scientists and community advocates engaged in the worldwide struggle against HIV/AIDS. Read more about AIDSTruth.

As you can see, we have updated the design and layout of AIDSTruth.org. Please let us know if any of the links on the site do not work.