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Published: Tuesday, 12 April 2016 09:22

When I first started working at an orphanage in Johannesburg called Ethembeni, I got my first taste of how quickly things progressed in the world of HIV. It was 2004 and as the norm, when a baby was abandoned and left in our care, a battery of tests were done on the baby to screen for HIV, TB, STIs and the like.
The test, that was common practice to check for HIV was the Rapid test called the Eliza test; a test that checks if antibodies existed for HIV. It is a common, inexpensive quick test that is widely used. Once anybody gets HIV, our immune system first starts forming antibodies as a immune reaction to the virus. This usually takes a few weeks to form ( hence, the window period - whereby the body is creating antibodies but the test does not show as positive yet). Our bodies usually take 4-6 weeks to form antibodies but in about 5 per cent of people, this process can take up to 3 months to form.

So back to my story- 5 small babies were abandoned and brought in to Ethembeni to be in our care. They would be fostered or adopted in the future.
Once tested, they were all confirmed as HIV positive. This was no surprise and was quite common.
As a volunteer, board member and therapist at this esteemed orphanage, we expected these babies to deteriorate over time; to get sick ( TB, pneumonia, persistent diarrhoea, oral thrush, ear discharge, swollen lymph glands to mention a few) and progress to the AIDS stage with very dire consequences.
I must remind the reader that ARVs were not the accepted form of treatment as Thabo Mbeki was president of SA at the time and he didn't believe in western medication as an option for managing HIV.
It was a total surprise that these 5 babies continued to grow, reach their milestones and not get sick at all. They were thriving. We were stunned and obviously surprised when these babies were rechecked for HIV a few months later, and their status had changed. They were no longer HIV POSITIVE.
As Ethembeni was part of the Salvation Army, the staff members believed that this was clearly a miracle and attributed it to God's work.
For me, as an academic and researcher, it just didn't gel but the question kept gnawing at me- how was it possible that these babies had gone from being diagnosed as POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE?
I spoke to medical Doctors who then explained that the problem was not with the babies or their changing status but was as a result of the Eliza test itself.
So here's the rub: when a baby is born, it still carries its mother's antibodies. These antibodies cross the placenta from mother to baby and can be present in the baby's blood for up to 18 months. These 5 babies when tested were in fact HIV NEGATIVE and had their mothers antibodies still inside them. Their mothers were all HIV POSITIVE.
Over time, the mother's antibodies disappear and a baby develops its own set of antibodies.
Today, we don't use the antibody/ Eliza test when checking babies for HIV. Instead, a more specific test is used that checks for HIV instead of antibodies. This test is called the HIV PCR test.
The Eliza test is still widely used in clinics and in home testing kits but not in babies.
It was a great relief to learn what was really going on and only through experiences like this, did the research world progress to another level.
Today, babies who are HIV POSITIVE are put onto ARVs to help boost their immune systems and keep them healthier, stronger and to prevent them from progressing to the AIDS stage for many years.
I always share this personal story whenever I do training with my book HIV & AIDS to show the students how important research and keeping up to date with information is. Anyone in this field must keep abreast of new research and new outcomes to keep in touch with this evolving world.