('nobody' would be lying to us, would they? Naaaah...)
Posted on 03/18/2005 6:21:08 AM PST by Mother Abigail
March 18, 2005
Rare AIDS Strain Is Very Aggressive, Study Says
By MARC SANTORA
A genetic study of a rare strain of AIDS that led New York City health officials to issue a public warning last month will be published today, allowing experts from around the world to more accurately evaluate the scientific basis of the alert.
The study, appearing in The Lancet, a medical journal, shows the virus to be resistant to nearly all licensed drugs and particularly aggressive. Most of the study's details were disclosed earlier during an AIDS conference in Boston. The report is based on the work of a team of researchers from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in Manhattan led by Dr. David D. Ho and Dr. Martin Markowitz.
There has been debate about the importance of the discovery of the rare strain since the city went public with the case on Feb. 11, with some scientists saying that a single case did not warrant much concern. Some gay activist groups also reacted skeptically, saying public health officials exploited the case to scare gay men into practicing safe sex.
The City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has repeatedly defended its decision, but has remained silent about how its investigation is proceeding. For a month, investigators have been working to track down the sexual partners of the man infected with the strain, a difficult job because he does not know the names of many of his partners.
Health workers took more than a dozen blood samples from people believed to have had sex with the man, according to one official involved in the case. They are testing those samples to determine if the virus was transmitted to others, but testing is not complete, the official said.
The case involves a gay man in his late 40's who tested positive for H.I.V. in December. The virus was resistant to nearly every drug treatment and progressed rapidly from infection to fully developed AIDS.
The man last tested negative for H.I.V. in May 2003 and was said to have engaged in unprotected sex with multiple partners in the fall of 2004 while he was using crystal methamphetamine. The man had developed AIDS by January, meaning that he had been infected for as long as 20 months or, according to the scientists familiar with how the virus progresses, as little as 4 months.
On average, it takes 10 years to develop AIDS after infection, but some people develop AIDS after about 20 years, and others within a year or so.
Drug resistance and rapid progression of the virus have both been seen at different times, but the intersection of the two is what the scientists found alarming. "The public health ramifications of such a case are great," the scientists wrote in the journal. Specifically, the genetic study of the virus shows it to be particularly effective at penetrating the human immune cells by being able to latch onto its target at two separate places, called receptors, on the cell's surface. Typically, the virus latches onto only one receptor.
In an accompanying editorial, The Lancet commented, "This case serves as a reminder that H.I.V. remains a frighteningly versatile foe, one that can mutate to escape immune attack or to acquire drug resistance with surprising speed."
But these are the sort of chaps who do a lot of this kind of thing and so it is perfectly reasonable for the doc to state that that particular night's sordid activities are not necessarily the cuplrits - there would have been plenty of other opportunities.
Cyborg, remember how the first reports of AIDS in the 70s were linked with Amyl Nitrate use?
I'd go further. I'd encourage the "queers" to stop having gay sex, period.
Thanks for the ping. tic tic tic...
Oh silly me....political correctness, of course.
There use to be a day years ago, when folks were actually quarantined to curb sexual epidemics.
'fraid so...
The original spread of AIDS followed the popularizing of amyl nitrate or "poppers" among the community.
IF the rate of spread is lower than the rate of burn out...
I'm celibate too. At least you're glad about it...
Yeah what was I thinking??? :O)
AIDS - It's wicked deadly when money is being requested but practically non-transmittable when social acceptance is requested.
I agree with you. If this were ANY other disease, people would demand a quarantine. I just don't get the fact that people with a fatal, communicable, non-curable disease are essentially allowed to pass it along to whomever they wish. They scream for MONEY for a cure when they know exactly how it's contracted and could prevent it for free. That, however would mean no more buggering for homosexuals and it appears that is not something they are willing to give up, no matter what the monetary cost or cost in human life.
Homosexual Agenda Ping. More on the superstrain of HIV that causes fullblown AIDS symptoms quickly and is resistant to anti-viral drugs.
There is no information on how many others have or may have it. It seems odd that even though they have tested a bunch of men who likely had sodomy with this man, they still don't know if those guys have the bad strain.
All I can say is - nothing. Karma, as you sow so shall you reap, etc.
Let DirtyHarryY2K and me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
Note: Lest anyone pop up with "AIDS is a problem for everyone" or "gays are just like us" - how many normal people do you know who have sex with vast numbers of people whose NAMES THEY DON'T KNOW?
Yeah. I had a couple friends die of AIDS before anyone even knew what it was.
Good thing I'm straight!
Holy personal responsibility, Batman! We can't have that.
Shalom.
('nobody' would be lying to us, would they? Naaaah...)
Maybe they could be weened off with anus flavored gum?
Bad, very bad.
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