India is all the rage in the world of AIDS. The latest reports from the UN and WHO, estimating 3 to 5 million HIV infections there were the backdrop for two new articles in JAMA. One of them reports a set of symptoms of "acute HIV infection." The investigators didn't test for HIV like they do in the US, though. In this study they looked for HIV p24 antibodies, which are produced against one protein said to be unique to HIV. Antibodies to HIV 24 have been found to cross-react with other proteins, though, in patients with leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases, and even Sjorgen's disease and systemic lupus. In addition, it has been shown that modern Western blot tests have an increased rate of false positives due to their reported increased sensitivity. Tuberculosis is a mycobacterial disease as is leprosy. One might imagine that the 1.5% of the Indian population with active TB, in addition to the 2 million new cases diagnosed annually, might be important considerations in terms of cross-reactions. But not in this study. In fact, the JAMA researchers were finding "HIV p24" (which needs to be in quotes now, since it isn't unique to HIV) without finding other HIV proteins, the ones they look for in the US. The assumption was that p24 represented "new HIV infections," and the conclusion was drawn that these people were, therefore, newly infected. It's magic: without even testing for HIV, the epidemic is said to be spreading. The easily preventable causes of disease and death todayin India are pushed aside to make way for specuation about future disease. The economic devastation which the world's financiers are subjecting the majority of the population there to remain hidden from our easily-distracted eyes. AIDS is working just fine for those who need it.