What is the current situation of the man who has been infected with AIDS for 7 years?

Man has been suffering from AIDS for 7 years: He still feels inferior and is afraid of being rejected by others.

He had no sense of time. He was lying on the sofa in the living room. When he was tired, he squinted for a while, woke up, and then continued to sleep. I was really hungry, so I went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, and spent the day like this.

"That feeling is much more uncomfortable than being in jail. Only people with terminal cancer can understand what it feels like to wait for death."

Sometimes, he even envies people who are in prison, "I am in prison, knowing that I will be released one day, and living with hope every day. This is such a happy thing."

In 2008, Zhong Xiaowei was diagnosed with HIV by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, during a review at the hospital, he discovered that he had been misdiagnosed 7 years ago. He decided to "seek an explanation" for the lost seven years.

Zhong Xiaowei has been an AIDS patient for 7 years.

In 2008, during a pre-marital physical examination, a test report sent by the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention and confirmed by the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that his blood was positive for HIV-1 antibodies, which meant that he Infected with HIV.

After that, Zhong Xiaowei lost his fiancée, began to escape from the crowd, and lived like a cave animal. He wanted to die several times, but his mother persuaded him, "If you want to die, I will die with you."

Not daring to die and not wanting to live, this Chengdu man lived a life of "waiting to die".

In 2015, the test report from West China Hospital of Sichuan University showed that Zhong Xiaowei’s HIV antigen composite test was negative. After a review by the Jinniu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the result was still negative.

Seven years have brought about tremendous changes in his destiny. After nearly 2,600 days of a life where "life is worse than death", he decided to "seek an explanation" for the lost seven years.

He filed a civil lawsuit against the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding an apology and compensation for the economic losses and mental damage caused from 2008 to the present. On December 12, 2017, the Wuhou District Court of Chengdu accepted the case.

Notice of case acceptance by Wuhou District Court of Chengdu City.

Waiting for the court date

54-year-old Zhong Xiaowei still lives like a cautious AIDS patient.

When he was first diagnosed with AIDS, he didn't know how to protect himself. When asked by others, he honestly admitted, "I have AIDS."

Although he explained many times that AIDS cannot be transmitted through shaking hands while eating, people around him still alienated him. Those friends who often moved around became very busy and were always "unavailable". His only two brothers also cut off contact with him. Once, he filled out a form and handed it to the staff, but the other party said nothing. , separated by a napkin, before I dared to take the paper he had written on.

Today, he lives in a low-rent house in the north of Chengdu. The curtains are never opened. When no reporters come to visit, he curls up on the sofa in the living room and smokes cigarettes one after another.

He still maintains the habits he developed during those seven years - almost never going out during the day, not daring to enter a store, and not daring to say hello to anyone. When it gets dark, he takes a 40-minute bus ride to go Get some daily necessities from my mother.

My mother Wang Suzhen is 83 years old, and she can't let go of her youngest son. She often takes two pockets and asks the shop owner to put 5 kilograms of rice in each pocket, "one for myself and one for Yao'er."

On December 10, Zhong Xiaowei stepped into the snack bar in front of his home for the first time in nine years. He wanted to taste the taste of Lao Ma's hand.

At noon, the small shop near the meal was noisy and steaming. He was a little uncomfortable, so he slipped in and found a table in the corner to sit down. Someone came to share a table, so he quickly moved his chair and retreated to the table. At the other end, half of the body was hanging outside the table.

A bowl of chopsticks was put on the table, and the diners sharing the table asked him to help him take off the chopsticks. He subconsciously stretched out his hand, but before his fingertips touched the chopsticks, he wanted to retract it, and it hung awkwardly in the air for a few seconds. , Xu made a fist, and apologetically pushed the chopstick holder in front of others, asking them to take it by themselves.

He said that he didn’t know why, but he always felt inferior. “I was afraid of touching other people’s things dirty and being disliked by others.”

After living in isolation for a long time, Zhong Xiaowei became somewhat out of touch with modern society.

Not long after he started using a smartphone, he had a total of 48 WeChat friends, most of whom were journalists. Reporters sent various questions on WeChat. He did not know how to use WeChat voice, so he slowly typed out replies with many typos in between.

Too many media came to visit, and the phone rang all day long. He heard that there was a function called "blocking", so he called people specifically to ask, "It's called blocking, but I don't know how to do it."

Recently, he wanted reporters to teach him how to take the subway.

In July last year, Chengdu Metro Line 3 opened near his home. He plucked up the courage to try it, but found that he had to buy a subway card from an automatic ticket vending machine. He spent a long time trying to figure it out, but he didn't dare. When asking others, it is better to come and take the bus honestly, "You say people are laughing but you are not laughing at others."

Photos of Zhong Xiaowei when he was young.

“The good days are about to begin”

Before he was diagnosed with AIDS, Zhong Xiaowei had a tortuous life.

He lost his father when he was seven years old, and his five children were all supported by his mother alone. It was dawn, and my mother couldn't even see her face clearly, so she went to work. Zhong Xiaowei grew up with his brother. When he came back from get off work at night, someone from a distance called his mother, "Sister Wang, hurry up, your baby is sitting on the street crying. It’s round”.

“Poverty” is the deepest memory in childhood.

In Zhong Xiaowei’s memory, his mother would make 40 kilograms of bean paste every year. Every time before dinner, she would run to the vegetable market and buy back a bunch of vegetables that others did not want, add the bean paste and stir-fry them. He and his brothers would They were all lined up, covered in dust, and mother held up a shoe brush to clean them one by one before eating.

His poor family background made him feel inferior and sensitive. When he was studying, he was also naughty and would tie girls' pigtails to chairs. His junior high school teacher described him as "good-looking, loyal and very loyal." It’s easy to trust others.”

After becoming an adult, the Chengdu Bus Company where Wang Suzhen worked saw that her family was in real difficulty and helped arrange for all five of her children to work in the company. Zhong Xiaowei was assigned to the tire repair department. Some people around him made fun of him. Call him "Fetus" (Chengdu dialect, which means crazy).

He was so angry and embarrassed that he refused to go to work no matter what. In 1987, Zhong Xiaowei left the bus company and went to the Chenghuang Temple to set up a stall selling electronic products.

Consumption in Chengdu in the 1990s was not high. Zhong Xiaowei was quick-witted and often had spare money. Out of curiosity, he imitated other people's heroin addiction. "I was stupid at that time and thought that people who eat white powder are so rich." , I didn’t know heroin was so scary.”

For a long time, Zhong Xiaowei was addicted to drugs. He described himself at that time, “When I was taking medicine, I was no longer a human being. All I could think about was taking it. "I can get the money for the medicine." From scalding and inhaling to injecting, Zhong Xiaowei's hands and feet were covered with needle holes.

Later, he met his girlfriend He Han (pseudonym) at a friend’s party. He began to sincerely want to get rid of drugs, and started detoxification with the help of methadone and other drugs.

Before going for an AIDS test, Zhong Xiaowei was the happiest time in his first half of life.

It was 2008, and everything was slowly getting better - he was 45 years old, recovering from drugs, and opened a Sichuan restaurant called "Shiweixian Restaurant". He had been in love for nearly 6 years and wanted to Get married and live a good life.

In the words of her mother Wang Suzhen, "My baby is on the right path, there is hope, and the good days are about to begin."

In order to be responsible to He Han, he took an AIDS test after quitting drugs. On December 5, 2008, the day when the report was received, the doctor asked Zhong Xiaowei many questions, including whether he had a history of drug abuse. "If he asked very detailed questions, I knew it was over. I was probably in a bad situation."

In 2008, the test report form Zhong Xiaowei received read: HIV-1 antibody positive.

The test report showed that his blood sample was sent for testing by the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention and confirmed by the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and was diagnosed as positive for HIV-1 antibodies. This means he is infected with HIV.

Zhong Xiaowei chose to accept the inspection results. He felt that he had seven years of experience in injecting heroin; also, the test results were issued by an authoritative department.

Zhong Xiaowei told his mother that he had AIDS, and he would die if he got the disease. His mother couldn't understand, "What is AIDS? I only know leprosy, and if I get leprosy, I will die."

That night, Wang Suzhen cried. She pointed at her son and ordered, "Zhong Xiaowei, you can't die. If you want to die, then I will die with you."

Zhong Xiaowei’s mother is 83 years old. She injured her leg some time ago. He cooks for her every day.

"Waiting to Die"

Zhong Xiaowei didn't dare to die, but he didn't want to live a good life either.

He knew that the AIDS inhibitory drugs currently provided for free by the hospital could not cure AIDS, but could only suppress it, so he refused to take them at all and waited for death.

Soon, his girlfriend left without saying goodbye, leaving a farewell letter and a sum of money, asking him to "take good care of yourself and see you in the next life." There has been no news since then,

Zhong Xiaowei collapsed. He and his girlfriend have been together for nearly six years. As expected, her girlfriend must have been infected with AIDS. Self-blame and guilt enveloped this middle-aged man. He was very worried that "Hanhan would not be able to think about doing stupid things", but he didn't. Can't find her.

In order to vent his emotions, he sold the property his mother gave him to open a restaurant at a low price, moved to a low-rent house provided by the government, squandered all the money, and waited for death.

His two brothers are ordinary workers and have their own small families. They have been helping him for many years and hope that he will take the right path. "Now our burden is very heavy. He has AIDS and cannot help him." "Go up the wall", and his two brothers completely severed ties with him.

Zhong Xiaowei’s only concern in this world is his mother.

Wang Suzhen would call him every day to make sure he was still alive. Once, Wang Suzhen didn't call him for three consecutive days. She thought something had happened, so she stumbled over to find him and found him lying on the sofa with his cell phone out of battery.

That time, his mother cried, and so did he. His mother said, "I must live a few more years so that I can help you collect the body."

Zhong Xiaowei summed up the seven years with two words: "waiting to die".

He had no sense of time. He was lying on the sofa in the living room. When he was tired, he squinted for a while, woke up, and then continued to sleep. I was really hungry, so I went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, and spent the day like this.

"That feeling is much more uncomfortable than being in jail. Only people with terminal cancer can understand what it feels like to wait for death."

Sometimes, he even envies people who are in prison, "I am in prison, knowing that I will be released one day, and living with hope every day. This is such a happy thing."

“Are you going crazy thinking that you have AIDS?”

Year after year, Zhong Xiaowei also wondered, “Why haven’t I died yet if I didn’t take medicine well?”

He only has a primary school education and has no doubts about the test reports given by official agencies.

On the promotional posters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he had seen some basic symptoms of AIDS patients, such as swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, periodic low-grade fever, etc., and he preconceived the idea: some colds When you have a fever, you tell yourself that it's a low-grade fever and you're getting sick. When the weather gets cold and your joints hurt, you feel like you have muscle pain and it's about to enter the advanced stage.

In fact, Zhong Xiaowei had many opportunities to know early that he did not have AIDS.

The "Regulations on the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS" stipulates that disease prevention and control institutions should conduct medical follow-up of HIV-infected and AIDS patients.

Between 2008 and 2015, Zhong Xiaowei underwent 13 medical follow-up visits at the Jinniu District CDC*** in Chengdu. Unfortunately, due to long-term drug injection, blood vessels atrophied, and the Jinniu District CDC The staff at the center have not been able to successfully collect Zhong Xiaowei's blood sample for seven years. In the past seven years, he has not had a CD4 cell test.

CD4 cells are the main target of HIV. The CD4 cells of normal adults are 500-1600 per cubic millimeter. The CD4 cells of HIV-infected patients may decline progressively or irregularly. By observing the CD4 cell test results, you can quickly determine whether the person being tested has AIDS.

Because it is stipulated that only those diagnosed with AIDS by CD4 test can receive subsistence allowance, so Zhong Xiaowei went to every medical follow-up visit. The doctor at the Jinniu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention found no bleeding in his arm and found no abnormalities. , but still issued him a certificate of need for minimum living allowance.

As for the proof of HIV infection, he also gave himself psychological hints time and time again, "I check every year, how can I make a mistake."

But he still murmured in his heart. On Christmas Day 2015, Zhong Xiaowei got up early and went to the West China Hospital of Sichuan University for a blood test. The doctor there also drew blood from his arm. He pricked it near the inner side of the arm and the blood flowed out immediately.

The next day, he went to get the test report, and the result showed that the HIV antigen complex test was negative. He walked under the chandelier and read it twice carefully, and it was still "negative."

The 52-year-old middle-aged man felt his head buzzing and went blank, "Doctor, are you mistaken? I have had AIDS for seven years!"

That one The doctor surnamed Deng was also happy. How can anyone who is not sick say that he is sick? He replied, "Are you going crazy thinking about AIDS?"

Zhong Xiaowei didn't know who to believe. In his opinion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and West China Hospital are both "authoritative, large institutions." How could the reports they issued be different?

He carefully folded the thin piece of A4 paper and put it into his coat pocket. After leaving the hospital, he even forgot to take the bus. He was thinking, "Is there a mistake?" It's not a mistake." After walking for more than two hours, he arrived at the door of his house.

The test results issued by the Chengdu Jinniu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Zhong Xiaowei was negative for HIV antibodies.

Which link made the mistake?

Zhong Xiaowei couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried, so he went to the Jinniu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention for consultation. The staff who received him didn’t believe it either, “I’m here I’ve been working for so many years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

On January 22, 2016, the Jinniu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention drew blood from Zhong Xiaowei for testing according to the blood drawing location of West China Hospital. The blood collection was successful, and the results showed that HIV antibodies were still negative.

At this point, Zhong Xiaowei completely believed that he did not have AIDS. He wanted to know what happened back then, and who got his blood wrong, causing his fate to change dramatically.

He found the HIV antibody confirmation test report form from 2008. The testing unit on it was written as the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the confirming unit was written as the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Zhong Xiaowei found the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They re-examined Zhong Xiaowei’s 2008 blood sample in the sample bank, and the test result was still positive.

Concerning this test result, the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention is unwilling to be interviewed. Relevant personnel said that everything will be resolved through legal procedures.

Previously, the relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention was interviewed by The Paper. The explanation they gave was, “Because the test result of Zhong Xiaowei’s blood sample stored by the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention is still positive, so at present It is certain that the blood sample sent for testing in 2008 was not that of Zhong Xiaowei himself, and this is related to the loopholes in the information registration."

As for the specific link that led to the fact that the blood sample sent for testing was not Zhong Xiaowei’s, the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the answer would not be available until the case goes to trial.

Some people in the medical field suggest that it is necessary for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a DNA test on the blood sample sent by Zhong Xiaowei in 2008. The matter will be clearer and it will be clear who the blood sample belongs to. And which link made the error.

Zhong Xiaowei felt angry. He guessed: "If my blood sample is wrong with someone else's, is there a situation where an AIDS patient took my test result and thought he didn't have it?" People with AIDS did not receive treatment in time and infected many people."

A group photo of Zhong Xiaowei’s five siblings and their cousin, with Zhong Xiaowei on the lower left.

"Ask for an explanation"

From the beginning of 2016 to the present, Zhong Xiaowei has been "asking for an explanation" for the seven years he lost.

He has repeatedly asked the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention to give him an apology. He told reporters that more than a year after the incident, he did not receive a word of comfort. "If there is a word of comfort, I will be more comfortable (Chengdu dialect, meaning comfortable)."

He visited the Chengdu Legal Aid Center, and the staff said that this matter did not fall within the scope of legal aid and "was not a medical accident." After going there a lot, a lawyer said to him privately, "You asked me to represent you in this matter, but you have to pay me. First come up with 10,000 yuan, and I will help you with the lawsuit."

He had no money, and his mother, the only one who could help him, couldn't afford 10,000 yuan. Once, my mother saw a helpline on Sichuan TV station, wrote it down, and asked him to call it.

In February this year, Sichuan TV station's "Golden Thirty" column broadcast Zhong Xiaowei's story. He had been looking forward to it for a long time, waiting for someone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to come to him, but nothing happened.

Wang Suzhen feels that Zhong Xiaowei looks very much like he did when he was a child, "When I came back from get off work, I saw him hunched over his neck, burying his head in his collar, huddled there. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn't say anything. , I knew that he must have been bullied outside."

In early December, many media noticed Zhong Xiaowei, and things began to turn around.

Lawyers Ouyang Jiu and She Yong from Sichuan Yingji Law Firm decided to provide him with free legal aid.

According to Zhong Xiaowei’s wishes, they filed a civil lawsuit, naming the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention as the first defendant and the Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention as the second defendant.

In the indictment, the "account" Zhong Xiaowei wants mainly includes three aspects. First, changing the wrong registration information in the AIDS testing network; second, a written apology; third, Compensation for economic losses and mental damage caused from 2008 to the present.

The lawyer said that the evidence in this case is strong and the possibility of winning is very high.

On December 12, the Wuhou District Court of Chengdu accepted the case, and the court date has not yet been determined.

Wang Suzhen is getting older and it is difficult for her to walk downstairs. When she heard the news, she said to everyone she met, "My youngest son's case has been filed. He was wrongly accused and does not have AIDS."

She once asked her son, what are she going to do after the case is judged?

Zhong Xiaowei lowered his head, "Just take it one day at a time."

“Do you want to get married?”, “No.”

Wang Suzhen had already made plans in her mind, "I hope he can get some compensation, top up his medical insurance and social security, and then open a restaurant." She paused and said, "Reconciliation with his two brothers." .

You can imagine how inferior such a person is. I hope society will give him fairness and give him confidence!