False Positive PCR-DNA in Kristen Case

Performer Kristen, who starred in Zane Entertainment's Kristen's Krazy Girlie Adventures, tested positive for HIV in what appears to be a false positive on the PCR-DNA test. The test was administered by the P.A.W./A.I.M. office in Van Nuys. Kristen is the girlfriend of Matt Zane, who took Kristen (and himself) to a Beverly Hills AIDS clinic for a battery of tests after the positive finding. The results of the second set of tests indicate that the positive result was in error. We just got her first ultrasensitive supersensitive quantitative RNA-DNA test back yesterday, and it came back completely negative, Zane told AVN. This was after another two ELISAs came back negative. An RNA came back negative. A Western Blot has come back negative. \n We'll be getting our second DNA test, which is not a supersensitive quantitative; it's the one the industry uses to gauge whether or not people have HIV, and we'll be getting that back Monday. [That test came back negative, as well.- Ed.] We're pretty much thinking that's probably going to be negative, considering this other test that we took was negative. This was done by an AIDS specialist who is more than willing to talk about the complexities and intricacies of this test. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll have two negative DNA [tests] in my hand.\n How did we get the idea that Kristen was HIV-positive in the first place? We did get a positive [PCR-DNA] test from the P.A.W. office. It was wrong. The doctor from the P.A.W. office was saying, I'm very perplexed right now, because the RNA is negative, the Western Blot is negative. It seems as if it's too early to detect it in her system. So I said, That's not very good, it seems like she just got it.\n Obviously, me being very skeptical, I went to a leading doctor's office/AIDS clinic in Beverly Hills. This place cost me $1000 for both of us. [Kristen's] blood tests cost $700. Serious, serious testing. I talked to the doctor about [adult] industry standards and what happened, and he says this test is going to detect if there's even one iota of the HIV virus or strand within her system. Meanwhile, the two ELISAs came up negative, as they normally do the RNA came up negative the Western Blot came up negative ‹ and then we're starting to wonder a little ‹ and then we get a call from the doctor yesterday and he says, There's absolutely no trace of it that I can find within her system. As of this point, we don't need to be talking any more, because this is the test that we use to gauge whether it is anywhere in the system.' He said, That test you got was a false positive.\n Since it was a different test from the one the industry's used to, I went and had her take another test at Hollywood. Obviously I did not go back to the P.A.W. office. Basically, I have a negative DNA in my hand, which I'm going to start faxing to people. I'm going to send one to P.A.W., and I'm going to send one to you, and we're just going to wait on this one. [The next one comes through] Monday, which I'll also be sending out. The negative DNA test Zane referred to, dated July 20, 1998, does show HIV as Not Detected in Kristen's system.\n The test administered in the Beverly Hills clinic is called the Quantitative HIV-1 Ultrasensitive assay, and a spokesman for the clinic said that it is used to count the actual degree of infection in the subject. The Qualitative test, which is the current industry standard, is notorious for false positives, according to the spokesman, which is why we [at this clinic] don't use them. The ultrasensitive Quantitative Test has a seven-to-10-business-day turnaround, and costs ballpark, about $180 cash, according to the spokesman.