Posted on 01/08/2006 9:56:19 AM PST by billorites
HIV/AIDS science is and has been so poor and corrupt (see recent Korean Stem Cell scandal) that one can't believe anything related to it.
That's not odd. Those who weren't immune died. The survivors are highly likely to be immune.
I skimmed the article (busy here) but is there a possibility of a Typhoid Mary situation?
Doesn't appear to be. It's not that the women are HIV-positive but not getting AIDS. There are people who do this, but in this case it appears that they don't become infected even after thousands of exposures.
She charges .80. This means she is making somewhere around $30 to $40 a week. That's 50 to 100% more than the per capita GDP for Kenya of $1100.
IOW, she's doing fairly well financially for the neighborhood.
Hookers and strippers never seem to get ahead no matter how much they make. I've worked in a couple of professions where I came into contact with them and almost invariably they live in ratty apartments, drive broken down cars and are short on cash. It's not because they don't earn any money though. I'd guess that most of them in this area are hauling in $50K or more a year. They just blow it.
later read.
Musician or cop?
Death of the host is the worst thing that can happen to a parasitic disease. Most diseases are minor nagging things, that rarely cause death. Only if a disease can pass to very many alternative hosts in a short time, can a disease have significant mortality.
HIV was probably in Africa for a long time, and usually had little effect, considering all the other ways to die there.
Once it got into a famously promiscious population, it could mutate into a form that had a higher mortality rate. and it did. The HIV strain in africa is mostly the old, low mortality variant. The one that doesnt need a cure.
These jerks get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to study poor prostitutes, and do nothing to change the terms by which the poor prostitutes live. After all, they are not a charity....
Was that a pun? Seriously, they generally have drug and emotional problems. They're involved in the most degrading profession possible. It's no surprise that they end up broke.
I've been reading scare numbers about infection rates in various African countries for 15 years or more, anywhere from 25 to 50%. Given the primitive living conditions and medical care in these countries, the population level should have fallen off a cliff years ago. Yet it is apparently still growing.
This means that either the numbers of those infected are skewed far too high, or that, as you say, a less-deadly variant of the virus is infecting them.
It's all bogus.
The recent stem cell incident should tell people some things.
The HIV/AIDS exagerations and the like aren't as bad or overt (in most cases) but is just bad science all around.
Sounds like AIDS drugs extend their lives so that they can transmit the disease to more victims. Naturally it would be wrong to withhold them, but overall, what results in the highest incidence of the disease, death where you can no longer transmit it or extending your life?
Maybe they ought to be studying men, too.
I may be naive, and I know that it is unfair to compare those prostitutes in such poor countries with people in countries where the standard of living is generally higher, but is it possible that a person of faith can earnestly pray to God and He will find a way out for them if they truly want out?
As an American, maybe that's being unrealistic, but I have always trusted in God to find a way that I would not have to engage in immoral behavior of any type in order to survive. But maybe my situation is unique. My family did leave me an inheritance, but I didn't know I would be getting enough to live on. Somehow, I truly believe God has seen me through to this point in my life. That is not to say I never made mistakes and got backed into corners at different times. Just when I thought I was completely trapped, something would happen and I was delivered. Where it goes from here, one cannot know. One day at a time.
Apartment management and cable guy, still working as the latter. I probably don't see nearly as many as a cop or musician would see, but depending on the neighborhood I'm working in I might work in their apartments once every couple of weeks or so.
Not really, I saw the double entendre there, but I was just too lazy to think of an alternative. I fully agree with you about the drug and emotional problems though.
Maybe she only took tips...
Needless to say, the prostitooties and strippers were in frequent need of ER services and were seen often for drug use, suicide attempts or as victims of assault.
Not a healthy career.
oh, and what I said about parasites having problems when the host dies: consider the infected prostitutes as the hose population, and the medical researchers as the parasites.
same situation.
"They're involved in the most degrading profession possible..."You wouldn't know it talking to them though.The bottom line is that they are in a "profession" where they can make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time,party till they're broke,sleep till late afternoon,and then hit the streets(or strip club),make more money,and the cycle repeats itself.The big draw?Always plenty of customers,no personal responsibility,and the best part is it's TAX FREE:)
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.