Man In Confusion After Being Wrongly Diagnosed With HIV And Placed On ARVs

A 50-year-old South African man identified as Solomon Mthana has revealed that he suffered mental and emotional trauma after being misdiagnosed with HIV and then placed on ARVs.

According to him, being told later that he’s negative has been an emotional and psychological roller-coaster ride for him and his family.

It was gathered that his ordeal began after visiting Settlers Hospital in Makhanda in March to have a lump in his head removed through surgery. Doctors took blood samples for testing at the laboratory to understand the underlying causes of the lump.

They also insisted on doing a rapid response HIV Test which gives instant results. The Test found Mthana was HIV-positive, which led to him getting counselling before he was put on ARV treatment.

The private security guard told Sowetan that the drugs took a toll on his body and that he suffered mental and emotional trauma because of the misdiagnosis.

He said;

“I was struggling to get used to the drugs. The first two weeks were the worst. I was vomiting constantly, had nausea and my body was often abnormally tired.”

However, negative blood Test results from the lab only came back in April after Mthana had been taking the treatment for over a month and learning to live with a non-existing virus in his body. He said he suspected something was off the day the doctors broke the news to him. Nurses, he said, were unusually too nice to him. He further revealed that they offered him counselling on the spot.