Aids

[joan davis fan]

Went out of town yesterday with a friend to pick up her child.
Reading one of their local papers I came acrosss their editoral section. It was titled "HIV/AIDS..The Truth and What you need to Know".

I thought it was yet another "safe sex" "dont share needles" article but the more I read it, well here is some of the things they said in the paper..

*"Anyone who has tested postive with HIV/AIDS should be required to register with the state and have the infomation available to the general public, much like what is being do with convicted sex offenders. People NEED to know if one of their neighbors has AIDS
or if they are HIV positive. The children need to be protected".

also the editoral went on to say that AIDS is still pretty much a "gay disease" since the numbers of hetrosexuals with HIV is "..so tiny it barely exists" and that money spent on AIDS/HIV research and prevention is a "..huge waste of money".

The posting of names of convicted sex offenders on the internet, like what is currently being done in Colorado that I can see. Parents should know if one of their neighbors is a sex offender, but the posting of names of people who have tested postive with HIV and have AIDS, to me thats an invasion of privacy !!! Oh...this doesnt stop with the internet, I was told ( in the same town ) one suggested that names of people with HIV/AIDS should be posted not only in the local newspaper but also on public access cable tv !!! Didnt happened but it did cause a big debate in the town since a lot of people felt they had the right to know. From what I was told the only reason it didnt happened was the fear of a serious lawsuit if the wrong name gets posted.

"protecting the children"...again if the person in question does have HIV and is a convicted sexual offender, then a parent should know. But if the man down the street got HIV through a blood transfusion or if the woman next door to him has AIDS thanks to a one night stand she had 10 years ago, then whats the purpose about releasing the information to the public?
Its bad enough to have the disease itself but to have such private information at the fingertips of your neighbors, to me thats wrong.

Also such info can cause people to push the panic button and do crazy things. If memory serves correctly when Ryan White's ( the young boy who contracted HIV and later died of AIDS ) condition became "public " ( dont remember how it did in the first place )didnt several people ( total strangers ) get together to burn down his house for the simple reason this child had AIDS?

People with HIV/AIDS needs support. Not some sicko threating violence or burning down their house.

[Bootsy Whoosh]

Joan Davis Fan, I gotta know where abouts you live, so I know never to go there!!! I remember awhile back you posting something about how wacked out your home town is, but apparently it's the whole state!

Personally, I think that's wrong on many levels. But then, I am one of these 'bleeding hearts' who is not entirely convinced that registration of sex offenders is a good idea. If you want to be utterly bored with some reasons about why it is not the solution to the sex offender problem, I can provide them since I did my final paper this year on that subject.

Anyhoo, that newspaper sounds small minded and frankly is spreading dangerous untruths which will only serve to harm the oh so holy heterosexual population if they actually succeed in convincing anyone that AIDS is still a gay disease.

I get so sick of everyone always screaming about protecting the children. Everytime though, I have to laugh, because it makes me think of that one episode of the Simpsons where Reverend Lovejoy's wife breaks into hysterics screaming 'WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!?' lol....

Ok, that's all I got to say about that....

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Was this a KKK paper or a religous paper. That's what it sounds like.

What do they mean the research is useless since most of the people who get it are gay. So what? If that is even true. Gay people deserve to live to. You just don't stop research because of the sexuality of the group. I think you picked up some kind of bigoted paper.

[Plata]

There's something interesting I found out about a hopeful cure for the disease a few years ago on the internet. I'm not sure how relevant or true it is, but it seems quite interesting.

http://www.davesite.com/rainforests/review2.shtml

[joan davis fan]

Originally posted by Bootsy Whoosh
Joan Davis Fan, I gotta know where abouts you live, so I know never to go there!!! I remember awhile back you posting something about how wacked out your home town is, but apparently it's the whole state!

Personally, I think that's wrong on many levels. But then, I am one of these 'bleeding hearts' who is not entirely convinced that registration of sex offenders is a good idea. If you want to be utterly bored with some reasons about why it is not the solution to the sex offender problem, I can provide them since I did my final paper this year on that subject.

Anyhoo, that newspaper sounds small minded and frankly is spreading dangerous untruths which will only serve to harm the oh so holy heterosexual population if they actually succeed in convincing anyone that AIDS is still a gay disease.

I get so sick of everyone always screaming about protecting the children. Everytime though, I have to laugh, because it makes me think of that one episode of the Simpsons where Reverend Lovejoy's wife breaks into hysterics screaming 'WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!?' lol....

Ok, that's all I got to say about that....

the paper was one of those small town weekly newspapers ( one of those where a church bake sale is considered "big" enough to be on the front page). Town? I really dont know since so many of these papers serve mulitple towns and counties. but it was in West Virginia. After I read this garbage I threw out the paper. But I did talk to my friend who tells me that much of what is said in the editoral many folks in the area feels pretty much the same way.

I myself live in Virginia not far from Washington DC and sadly the attitudes about this subject is more/less the same. My neighbor is so AIDS-pobic that for example she wont allow her 10 year old daughter to have a cat because she heard cats can get AIDS and pass it to humans. True there is such a thing a feline AIDS but I have NEVER heard of a cat passing AIDS to an adult.

Where I live isnt all that bad but we do have our colorful characters just like every other town everywhere else. But we do ( again like other places across the country) have those who are so in the dark when it comes to AIDS. But just like what happened in Florida ( I believe that was the state) when those kids with AIDS had their home burned down because some folks nearby refused to live near them due to their illness, the number of those who "push the panic button" may be small but they do exist sadly.

[Plata]

Originally posted by joan davis fan
My neighbor is so AIDS-pobic that for example she wont allow her 10 year old daughter to have a cat because she heard cats can get AIDS and pass it to humans. True there is such a thing a feline AIDS but I have NEVER heard of a cat passing AIDS to an adult.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I know cats can get feline AIDS, same as dogs can get canine AIDS, but for a cat to pass it on to a human I think is not likely at all, since I'm pretty sure AIDS can't be passed on from one species to a different species. I mean, what's your neighbour worried about, anyway? That her daughter will try to share a needle with a cat or what? Not that it would matter anyway, since it's not likely at all that the disease could be passed from one species to another.

[bb]

Originally posted by joan davis fan


the paper was one of those small town weekly newspapers ( one of those where a church bake sale is considered "big" enough to be on the front page). Town? I really dont know since so many of these papers serve mulitple towns and counties. but it was in West Virginia. After I read this garbage I threw out the paper. But I did talk to my friend who tells me that much of what is said in the editoral many folks in the area feels pretty much the same way.

I myself live in Virginia not far from Washington DC and sadly the attitudes about this subject is more/less the same. My neighbor is so AIDS-pobic that for example she wont allow her 10 year old daughter to have a cat because she heard cats can get AIDS and pass it to humans. True there is such a thing a feline AIDS but I have NEVER heard of a cat passing AIDS to an adult.

Where I live isnt all that bad but we do have our colorful characters just like every other town everywhere else. But we do ( again like other places across the country) have those who are so in the dark when it comes to AIDS. But just like what happened in Florida ( I believe that was the state) when those kids with AIDS had their home burned down because some folks nearby refused to live near them due to their illness, the number of those who "push the panic button" may be small but they do exist sadly.

Someone earlier said something about the KKK. Somewhere in West Virginia the KKK actually does have an active chapter so that so-called newspaper you picked up may very well have been published by the local KKK-its possible !!!!

My roommate ( who is also my best friend ) has HIV and has had it since 1993. Before he found God he was one of those "gotta party" guys and one night he was with a girl ( who was a nude dancer and has since died from AIDS )-well you can figure out what happened next.

I showed him your post ( and the others here too ) and he tells me that he has yet came across anyone who felt they have the right to know who has AIDS, and we live in West Virginia. But he tells me ( after what happened to us a few months back I know what he is talking about ) that the feelings of AIDS being strictly a disease for gays only DOES STILL EXISTS.

He went to the local hospital last April because he was having a panic attack ( he also suffers from bi-polar disorder, OCD and depression). When the nurse was gettingready to take his blood-he told her that he is HIV positive. She then asked three questions..

1. do you have AIDS? 2. are you gay? and 3. the guy who brought you here to the hospital....was he your lover?

All because my roommate is HIV positive she assumed these things AND she works at a hospital. So much money spent on AIDS education, HIV education and whatever , yet you still have
those who really believe that a straight man with HIV who doesnt have AIDS and lives a healthy lifestyle ( despite his mental problems ) well so many people have a hard time believing that.

Cat AIDS? True it does exist but still your neighbor is going way overboard. Doesnt surprise me though. I am sure you still have churches out there that still believe AIDS is a sign from God to punish homosexuals and thats it. Every once in awhile somebody writes a letter to the editor of our local paper saying pretty much that though one fact these souls do overlook- if AIDS was created to punish homosexuals why is it one segment of the gay population rare do they get AIDS, talking about lesbians.

My roomate goes to an AIDS/HIV support group and among their stats the rate of lesbians with AIDS is actually lower than many straight groups.

About the posting of names of people who has HIV/AIDS, thats not going to happen anytime soon with so many hospitals cracking down on the amount of information given to the public about its patients. Same reason why I dont think information on the web with names of convicted sexual offenders will last-it all comes down to security. Yes I do believe a parent has the right to know if a such a person ( a sex offender ) lives nearby, but they should get this kind of information only through law enforcement ( police, county sheriff, city sheriff ect...). To have this information so easily available, you may have people take the law into their own hands. Same thing with such a disease with AIDS becuase you do have people who are so scared of it.

Now according to my roommate , once someone has been infected with HIV reporting that to the state IS already done. At least here in WV. When you get tested for HIV/AIDS- you go by the number your local health department gives you and you find out the results by giving them that number, not your name or address. If you are infected then that number is given to a local doctor who treats HIV/AIDS and then you report to that doctor.
Then you give them your name and such. Privacy remains intact will stay so, my roommate's doctor wouldnt even give his own mother information if she called to ask about it.

Of course however you do have those few that work at such places with big mouths who feel they must tell people that so and so has AIDS ( I believe that is what happened with Ryan White , how so many people came to know such private information ). But such people are few and far between since many workers do value their jobs. By giving such information to anyone not only to they risk losing thier lobs and be unlikley to find another one in that field but could face jail time too.

[Mossopp]

I believe in naming and shaming sex offenders but to treat HIV/AIDS sufferers in the same way is disgusting!
And the belief that AIDS is a "gay disease" is totally stupid. There was extensive research done on this issue in the Glasgow area earlier this year and they found that, out of 50 AIDS sufferers, 25 caught the disease through gay sex, 24 caught it through heterosexual sex and 1 caught it via injecting drugs. If only these ignorant people who wrote that article that Joan Davis Fan posted about had actually looked at statistics such as these before writing such ill-informed crap!!

[Bootsy Whoosh]

I'm sorry for bringing up such an old topic, but I remembered reading it in Europe and I wanted to reply but I didn't have the time....

The thing I really wanted to address was this cat AIDS nonsense. I guess I wanted to talk about it simply because I am a future vet, but I can say here that I think this is one case where veterinarians really dropped the ball. The disease that unfortunately many people know as Feline AIDS is actually Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). Now this was a very stupid name for this virus, because the leukemia virus is nothing like leukemia cancer. As such people had to find a way to put this virus in layman's terms, and someone thought it would be easiest to describe it as AIDS. I guess they thought this because they assumed everyone knew what AIDS was....and it is true that I think most people know that AIDS is a deadly disease that suppresses the immune system...which is exactly what the feline leukemia virus does. However, they didn't take into account that many people are still ignorant about AIDS, and calling it Feline AIDS only serves to scare people, even though FeLV cannot be transmitted to humans. I urge everyone, please do not spread the ignorance by calling this disease Feline AIDS. I swear to you, when I become a vet, I am going to make every effort to never call this disease feline AIDS and to go to great lengths to find a way to describe it in a way that doesn't involve AIDS....all I ask is that others try to be consientious (sp?) and not contribute to the confusion by calling FeLV "feline AIDS".

And two other quick things: I personally have never heard of a dog having "canine AIDS" though of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, or that dogs can't get immunosuppressive diseases....just please don't call it canine AIDS.

And finally, don't assume that just because humans can't get FeLV that you can't get any diseases from your pet. Diseases that pass between species are called "zoonoses", and they do indeed exist. I'm not trying to scare anyone or imply you shouldn't have pets, because that is ridiculous. Simply saying that you shouldn't assume it never happens....it would be exceedingly rare for a person to catch anything serious from their animal, but humans are susceptible to parasitic infections that animals get, such as ringworm or certain intestinal worms (though chance of cross contamination with intestinal worms is very slight because they have to be ingested....so just don't eat dog poop and you should be OK! ) But also reptiles carry salmonella, and I had an acquataince in high school who actually did get a salmonella infection from her iguana....but it wasn't serious.

[XoVanillaRain90oX]

huh?! what?! cat's give humans HIV/AIDS?


o i wanna clear something up...in science we learned HIV was a virus right? AIDS isn't a virus, is it? Isn't AIDS something that can't get cured?

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally posted by NYangel
...in science we learned HIV was a virus right? AIDS isn't a virus, is it? Isn't AIDS something that can't get cured?

There isn't any cure for AIDS, but we read that HIV and AIDS were infectious diseases....I don't think there is a cure for HIV either, is there?

[Plata]

Originally posted by Bootsy Whoosh
Simply saying that you shouldn't assume it never happens....it would be exceedingly rare for a person to catch anything serious from their animal, but humans are susceptible to parasitic infections that animals get, such as ringworm or certain intestinal worms (though chance of cross contamination with intestinal worms is very slight because they have to be ingested....so just don't eat dog poop and you should be OK! ) But also reptiles carry salmonella, and I had an acquataince in high school who actually did get a salmonella infection from her iguana....but it wasn't serious.

I know that humans are suceptible to worms if a cat has worms and leaves behind bacteria in the litter box, but unless a person were to touch the poop and put it in their mouth, I'm positive
it can't be spread through normal contact with a cat. The same goes for the deadly disease called Hantavirus. It can't be spread from someones' cat that, say, ate a mouse that had the Hantavirus. The same goes for a dog. They can't spread Hantavirus to a human either.

[Plata]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever
There isn't any cure for AIDS, but we read that HIV and AIDS were infectious diseases....I don't think there is a cure for HIV either, is there?

If you look at this site it says that there may be a hopeful cure for AIDS in a vine in the rainforest.

http://www.davesite.com/rainforests/review2.shtml