Eight women test positive for HIV after funeral revelation

Eight women have tested positive for HIV after discovering at a former lover's funeral that the dead man had been living with the virus since he was a boy.

Two other women are also known to have contracted HIV from 25-year-old Daniel Decu, who died of pneumonia after returning to Romania from a year-long trip to Italy.

The funeral had been attended by a number of Decu's former girlfriends and partners, and descended into a screaming match after it was revealed that he had been HIV positive, the Daily Mirror reports.

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Decu is said to have contracted HIV in hospital as a child. He had been registered as HIV positive but his condition only became public when an autopsy into his cause of death was carried out and a coroner's report was published.

Daniel's mother, Elena Decu, 45, said that all of the women who had dated her son had been aware of his condition. "They all knew," she said. "I don't know why they are saying these things now.

"Dani went to the psychologist to prepare himself for living with the virus, and I told him he had to use protection, I was telling it to him from the age of 12. My boy had condoms in his pocket all the time."

A search for other potential victims, in Romania and Italy, has now been ordered.

Decu's mother said she welcomed the investigation: "I want this case to be resolved, and for my boy to rest in peace in his grave. He died because of tuberculosis, not from any complications as a result of suffering from the HIV virus."

TB is a common condition among people with HIV, the Mirror reports, and leads to about a quarter of deaths among HIV-positive people.

Dozens of women in Romania are now awaiting the results of HIV tests after the revelations from Decu's funeral, the Daily Mail reports.