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Perth Group letter submitted to and rejected by NEJM August 2005 |
A video based on this letter
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PDF file -
View file name NEJMMatAB3f.pdf
Published data on the decay of maternal antibodies raise questions in regard to the specificity of the HIV antibody tests. In 1973 the evidence was that transplacental antibody did not persist beyond nine months,1 a view also asserted by a foremost paediatric text, “Maternal IgG gradually disappears during the first 6-8 months of life”.2 In 1987, without citing evidence of a serological procedure that distinguishes maternal from infant antibody, the CDC stated "Most of the consultants believed that passively transferred maternal HIV antibody could sometimes persist for up to 15 months". In 1991, again without evidence, the CDC extended the time to 18 months and by 1995 "…the range of WB [Western blot] seroconversions might eventually extend beyond 30 months”.3
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