HIV-like symptoms 'could be purely psychological' in China
10/02/2010
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.
Written by John Curtis
