Re: AIDS Epidemic

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 11:18:56 -0700, Rat & Swan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

>> Yup..I recall all of that.  And STILL bathhouse multipartner
>> saturnellas went on and on, and still rough riding was prevelent.
>
>As was true in the straight community, both in the '80's, and earlier
>when syphilis was common and no cure was known for it.  AIDS
>wasn't the first lethal venereal disease.  Human nature is
>human nature, gay or straight, now and in other historical
>periods.

Erlich discovered the cure for syhpilis in 1909.. Also commonly known
as the French Pox, Travelers Disease etc etc. In fact, King George of
Revolutionary War fame was in the earlyl dementia stages of it when
America broke free from England

Flemming in 1929 discovered Penicillin, which is a specific for most
STDs, with some exceptions.

As yet, no one has discovered a cure for HIV. Period

Transmission generally requires introduction directly to the blood, be
it via broken tissues close to blood supply, such as in the rectum, or
via needle. AIDs is actually pretty hard to catch, and in Male Female
transmission, its typically, like gay sex, via anal sex. Its something
like 600/1 for a male to female transfer via normal sexual activities 
Im not aware that AIDs may be transmitted via oral sex. Perhaps if one
had a open wound on either their penis or in their mouth....

The current pending burn off in Africa, is the result of multiple
repeated contacts with  full blown Slims and both homosexual and
hetrosexual contact. One of the mystiques is that if one has sex with
a virgin girl child, it will cure their HIV.  

So to quote Tim May..the Die off will be marvelous in a few years.

You may find this of interest.

http://www.aegis.com/news/newsday/1988/ND880903.html

Clue to AIDS Transmission in Africa 

Newsday - September 18, 1988 
Laurie Garrett - Staff Correspondent 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists may have found an explanation of why AIDS is more often
transmitted among heterosexuals in Africa than it is in North America
and Europe, where the epidemic is largely linked to homosexuality and
intravenous drug abuse. 
At the Third International Conference on AIDS and Related Cancers held
here last week, Dr. Francis Plummer, of the University of Nairobi,
presented striking evidence that transmission of the AIDS virus by
women in Kenya correlates directly with lack of circumcision and with
genital ulcers in their male partners. 

It has been a theory for some time that the presence of openings
through which the virus can reach the blood stream accounts for the
transmission of the disease among heterosexuals in Africa. Both the
absence of circumcision and genital ulcers are much more common in
Africa than in the United States or Europe. 

Plummer said the genital ulcerations and irritations found under the
foreskin of uncircumcised men in Africa probably serve as entry points
for the AIDS virus. 

Plummer tested 1,000 Nairobi prostitutes, finding that 85 percent were
infected with the AIDS virus. He then recruited 429 men who came into
a Nairobi clinic for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, all
of whom said they got their infections from one of the city's
prostitutes. All the men in his study claimed to have had a single
sexual encounter that led to their infection. 

Eleven percent of the men were already infected with the AIDS virus
when the study began. Eight weeks later, Plummer retested the men:
Another 8.2 percent were positive. Plummer found that among men in his
study, those who were uncircumcised were eight times more likely to
have become infected with the AIDS virus. Those who had a history of
genital ulcer diseases, such as herpes, syphilis and chancroid, were
also at greater risk for AIDS infection. 

And nearly half the men who had both a history of genital ulcer
disease and were uncircumcised became infected with the AIDS virus
following a single sexual encounter with an infected prostitute. 

"I think," said Plummer, "that we can now explain a lot of the African
heterosexual AIDS dilemma. Ninety percent of the cases were due to
either genital ulcer disease or lack of circumcision. And I think it
fits well with the circumcision pattern in Africa in that where
traditional circumcision is practiced, such as in West Africa, we see
very little AIDS, but in East and Central Africa, where men are rarely
circumcised, we have a serious AIDS problem." 

Dr. James Chin, of the World Health Organization's Global AIDS
program, said he was impressed by the Nairobi study, adding, "I don't
think it's conclusive, but the heterosexual transmission issue is less
of a question now. There is no doubt that genital ulcers predispose
people to AIDS." Studies from Zambia and Zaire reported at this
meeting found similar associations between circumcision, genital
ulcers and AIDS. 

Public education campaigns have had limited success in combating the
AIDS virus. 

Reports from several countries indicate Africans are largely unwilling
to use condoms or dramatically change their lifestyles. For example, a
survey of attitudes among high school students in nothern Tanzania
found that 50 percent of the students would have sex with somebody
they suspected was infected with the virus without using a condom. 

Dr. Daniel Tarontola, of the World Health Organization, said African
government support of condom campaigns has recently taken a dramatic
turn. Twenty-eight out of 45 African contries now actively promote
condom use. 

"The AIDS situation in most of Africa has become so serious,"
Tarontola said, "that no prevention measure should be overlooked." 




"The British attitude is to treat society like a game preserve where a
certain percentage of the 'antelope' are expected to be eaten by the
"lions".
Christopher Morton