Posted on 02/12/2005 5:11:26 PM PST by JeffersonRepublic.com
As word spread of a rare and potentially more aggressive form of H.I.V., first reported publicly in New York on Friday, communities already hit hard by the disease, professionals who combat it, and people who are infected reacted yesterday with fear and skepticism. But few were surprised, given that the sense of urgency about the disease has waned.
Michael Justiniano, 37, who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, said he watched his father die of AIDS in 1993. "I have spoken to young kids, sometimes here, who say, 'If I get it, it's no big deal. I can just take a pill,' " he said. "I'm like, 'Are you stupid?' It is so disgusting. I find it really disturbing."
City health officials announced on Friday that they had detected the rare strain of H.I.V. in one man whose case they described as particularly worrisome because it merged two unusual features: resistance to nearly all anti-retroviral drugs used to treat the infection, and stunningly swift progression from infection to full-fledged AIDS.
That combination, the officials said, could signal a new, more menacing kind of infection, and its discovery set in motion an anxious search by city workers to find the man's sexual partners and have them tested.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Amen. The beauty of the HIV virus is that it's selective. With a few horrifying exceptions, the large majority of HIV cases are gays, drug users, and stupid, promiscuous people. Sometimes those groups overlap. In fact, I have a friend who is gay, and he had an HIV scare about a year ago. He said things like "Wow, I'm really gonna have to be careful," etc. Within 60 days of being cleared, he was back to sleeping with random partners, engaging in group sex, and on and on.
People complain that it's "hateful" to see HIV as "the gay disease", but let's look at the facts. Who's spreading it? Who's got the biggest number of victims (I use the term loosely)? There is a very very easy way to NOT contract HIV. It's called "Keeping it in your pants and out of someone else".
What a novel idea.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.