David Dean Smith, Michigan Man, Allegedly Spread HIV 'Possibly 100s Of People' To Kill Victims

A health alert warning residents of Michigan's Kent County that "possibly hundreds of people have been exposed to HIV" was issued Tuesday after the arrest of David Dean Smith, a 51-year-old HIV-positive man who told police he was on a mission to infect as many people as possible, MSNBC reports.

Smith allegedly told Grand Rapids police last week that over the past three years, he had engaged in unprotected sex with as many partners as he could -- a number he estimated to be in the "thousands" -- in an effort to infect them with HIV and kill them.

Police arrested Smith Friday on sexual offense charges and he is currently in Kent County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond with preliminary hearings scheduled for Jan. 4 and Jan. 9. When asked to comment on the case, Smith's attorney Richard E. Zambon told MSBNC that he is "concerned about his mental health" and is planning on "exploring all options" for defending Smith.

According to documents filed with Grand Rapids 61st District Court, Smith targeted Michigan residents as well as those living many states away, whom he contacted via Yahoo! Personals.

That was the method Smith used to contact one of the two victims that have already come forward. This woman agreed to be interviewed by Grand Rapids news station WOOD-TV on the condition of anonymity, telling reporters that she contracted HIV in 2008 and knew immediately that Smith was the person who had infected her.

Right before his arrest, she said, he allegedly sent her a text message that read "Turning myself into the law, my life is over. Take care. Always love you."

It's unclear why Smith chose to alert authorities of his behavior at this time, but court documents suggest he has a history of mental illness which includes a recent admission to Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services for threatening suicide. According to Michigan Live, hospital records say that Smith is "sexually aroused by causing pain to females."

How many people Smith directly infected over the past three years is difficult to determine, but the victim who spoke to WOOD-TV said Smith claimed to have had sex with as many as 3,000 people of both genders.

The Kent County Health Department is encouraging anyone who believes they may have been infected by Smith to come forward.
Anyone concerned that they may have been infected can call the Kent County Health Department Personal Health Services Clinic at 616.632.7171. All calls and HIV testing are confidential.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/david-dean-smith-michigan-hiv-grand-rapids_n_1177103.html

Effectiveness Of Bone Marrow Transplant In Suppressing HIV Creates Hope For Gene-Therapy Strategies In Treating Virus, Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined the case of an HIV-positive person who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia and who has had undetectable HIV viral loads for almost two years. The procedure -- performed by German hematologist Gero Hutter of Berlin's Charite Medical University on a 42-year-old American living in the city -- "is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease," the Journal reports.

For the procedure, Hutter, who is not an HIV/AIDS specialist, replaced the patient's bone marrow cells with those from a donor with a naturally occurring gene mutation that provides immunity to almost all strains of HIV by preventing the CCR5 molecule from appearing on the surface of cells. According to the Journal, about 1% of Europeans, and even more in northern Europe, inherit the CCR5 mutation from both parents, and people of African, Asian and South American descent almost never carry it. Of 80 compatible blood donors living in Germany, Hutter's colleague Daniel Nowak found one who had inherited the mutation from both parents on the 61st sample he tested. According to the Journal, because immune-system cells are created in bone marrow, "transplanting mutant bone-marrow cells would render the patient immune to HIV into perpetuity, at least in theory."

The Journal reports that prior to the transplant, Hutter administered a standard regimen of powerful drugs and radiation to kill the patient's bone marrow cells and many immune-system cells, which may have helped the treatment succeed because the procedure killed many cells that harbor HIV. Transplant specialists then ordered the patient to stop taking his antiretroviral drugs when they transfused the donor cells because they were concerned that the drugs might undermine the cells' ability to survive in their new host. Although the plan was to resume the antiretroviral regimen once HIV re-emerged in the patient's blood, more than 600 days later, standard tests have not detected HIV in his blood, or in brain and rectal tissues where the virus often hides.

David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his research on tumor viruses, said the case is "a very good sign" and a virtual "proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches, but he cautioned that it could be a fluke. However, researchers who recently have reviewed the case believe that although it is likely that some HIV remains in the patient, it cannot "ignite a raging infection, most likely because its target cells are invulnerable mutants." According to the Journal, the researchers agreed that the patient is "functionally cured." Nevertheless, research has shown that blocking CCR5 can have fatal consequences, and bone-marrow transplants, which are given only to later-stage cancer patients, can result in death among 30% of patients. The Journal reports that although "scientists are drawing up research protocols to try this approach on other leukemia and lymphoma patients, they know it will never be widely used to treat AIDS because of the mortality risk."

Although re-engineering a patient's own cells through gene therapy could be a safer alternative, such strategies face "daunting technical challenges," the Journal reports. However, several research groups are testing different approach to treating HIV/AIDS, "[e]xpecting that gene therapy will eventually play a major role in medicine" (Schoofs, Wall Street Journal, 11/7).

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/128681.php

HIV-Positive Man Used Craigslist To Find Rape Victims

DECATUR, Ga. -- DeKalb County police say a man accused of sexually assaulting two women by using the popular Web site Craigslist to lure them to a vacant apartment is HIV-positive.


Eighteen-year-old Allen Jamar McDowell is accused in two separate assaults at an apartment near his home in March and April.

Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said Tuesday one woman was raped and the other robbed and sexually assaulted at the vacant apartment at 3527 Kensington Road.

Investigators think there are other victims and are urging them to call the the DeKalb County Special Victims Unit at (770) 724-7710.

McDowell was arrested April 19. He also is charged under a reckless conduct law which applies to people who know they have the virus which causes AIDS.

Parish says she does not know the extent of the victims' risk of infection. ,

McDowell remains in custody. It's not clear whether he has an attorney.

Source: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16184165/detail.html