Aids Origin

[Danugh]

If Brad is HIV negative and Cossy is Hiv negative and they are in a stable committed faithful relationship and have unprotected sex for the rest of their lives with only each other they will not contract the hiv virus from each other.


My question is then where did aids come from in the first place?

There was a time when there was no aids. Nobody in the world had aids. The world has been around for a long time and condoms came about due to the spread.

In ancient times men had sex with men and it was safe.

So if there was time when noone had aids where did it just come from all of sudden?

 

[Fastdavy]

Current theory is that it vectored into the human race from the bite of monkeys or chimps.If I remember correctly the virus was already in the simian population but had never crossed over.The bone of contention was the question of it being spread to humans through the bite or through the fact that monkeys get eaten as bush meat and exactly witch it came through;monkeys or chimpanzees.
That was a few years ago and I am sure there is an answer by now but I don't know

 

[Fastdavy]

I did not realize that it showed up in the 1920's.

 

[KentuckyPython]

For several reasons, it's not advisable to have unprotected anal sex (even straights). A condom is always a good idea even if you've been exclusive for 20 years.

 

[unclaimedblessing]

What I gleaned from various sources (reliability unproven) was that it started from a green monkey in Africa which was eaten by some of the people during famines.
"Patient Zero" was allegedly a very promiscuous French-Canadian airline attendant who frequently visited France, Haiti and French speaking African countries.
One would think however,if the above were true the first major outbreaks would have been in Toronto or Vancouver rather than SF & NYC.
Although Frech scientists were vying for a cure simultaneously with American scientists.
Perhaps we'll never know. But with the frequency of air travel being what it is, the possibility of formerly isolated diseases could be wide spread more quickly.

 

[juley]

I saw a show on this once. It's thought that maybe it came from chimps in Africa. A doctor was there to come up with a vaccine for something like polio (I'm not sure) and used chimpanzees for it. I guess it was unethical to use some chimps for this but he did anyway....And so the outcome was people getting a disease that was only affecting chimps...

I could be wrong. So don't hesitate to correct me...

I saw that documentary. It made its point very convincingly. The vaccine was made from monkeys, that sometimes were operated on while still alive (monkeys have a disease similar to AIDS among them).

Thousands of African children were given the vaccine, and AIDS is most dense exactly there (I too forget the country).

 

[JayHew]

It is thought to be from the green monkey through bites, monkey and human DNA being so close, a cross over happened, akin to the avian flu in the east. What is different is the spread of HIV in Africa with heterosexual contact, whereas else where the higher risk is in Gay men. Nutritional factors may be a part as well as the overall immune system of the individuals involved (having other diseases at the time, etc). After all these years, there is little point of origin for the disease that is totally satisfactory. Again akin to ebola, it appears suddenly during the rainy season, then disappears, as yet the source is unknown, though there are suspects, one being a certain type bat.

For it to be a diabolical bug made by man is in doubt as nature seems well versed in outdoing anything man can seem to do at this point. Not to say it can't happen, but the purpose would serve???? Besides though it may make great read for science fiction or conspiracy theory it is not an easy task to do, even with the current knowledge of the genomes and DNA. It is not something that can just be slapped together and work. Another reason smallpox virus is stockpiled by various countries for possible use as a biological weapon. And in that aspect, if it were produced by man, the universe being in random chaos, you can not totally predict the bug being contained for certain groups or regions, thus the spector of it being unleashed against oneself is also very prominent in thought.

 

[NedNickerson]

Read this accout about a 15 year old boy who died of AIDS in 1969 in St. Louis...

The question is - from whom did he catch it...?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...73AF93BA15753C1A961948260&sec=&pagewanted=all

 

[justsimon]

NPR

CNN

Wired

 

[Just_Believe18]

Its originally from monkeys. It spread to humans through the industry of chop shops, where monkeys were butchered for their parts to sell. Unsanitary conditions resulted in the blood contaminating within the workers (example, they'd cut themselves by accident while being covered in monkey's blood), and thats how it spread to human beings.

Patient Zero, the very first man to spread AIDS into the United States was a French flight attendent who frequented the bath houses.

 

[tbonez]

Actually, it was not safe for men to have sex with men. There have always been contagious diseases, and specifically, venereal diseases, some fatal.

If I remember correctly, they think the first human outbreaks began in the 1920's in Cameroon, but "burned out" locally, so to speak, for lack of a vector (humans) to carry it into the larger world.

That's basically what I understand to be the 'current best information'.

I'd add that the present outbreak started in the 1950's but was quite isolated until the late 70's/early 80's when it exploded. (From what little I understand)

By the way, your first paragraph is a nonsequitur.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

The unprotected sex between two monogamous men presumes that the partner is absolutely trustable, and history has proven over and over that it is going to be a big risk. It could cost your life if you're wrong about trusting him.

I know you are dead right about this...but I still hate it. There seems some horrible disconnect between being in a totally committed, 'life long' relationship with someone and having to wear a condom because 'he' might be a cheating fool. I'm thinking that when I get married (If ever) I'd, after testing and much honest and open discussion communication, throw the rubbers in the bin. That is perhaps a discussion for another day.

"Patient Zero" was allegedly a very promiscuous French-Canadian airline attendant who frequently visited France, Haiti and French speaking African countries.

I was under the impression that the current best thinking is that there were several "patient zeros"...Most of whom were untraceable. Several of the earliest North American cases were proven not to be related to the flight attendant or his subsequent partners.

The polio vaccine theory has been pretty effectively debunked...

Actually, I was thinking more like 100% debunked.

 

[tbonez]

BTW

Anyone who is really interested in this stuff...history of HIV/Aids in North America:

Another JUBBER recommended a movie to me...And the Band Played On. "The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106273/

The film is pretty dated in some respects (1993) but it's excellent for getting a sense of the desperation and political posturing that went on in the early days of the North American phase of the epidemic.

I'd thank whoever it was that recommend the movie to me but I have forgotten who it was. My bad. (Amy Vanderbilt would weep.)

 

[justsimon]

BTW

Anyone who is really interested in this stuff...history of HIV/Aids in North America:

Another JUBBER recommended a movie to me...And the Band Played On. "The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106273/

The film is pretty dated in some respects (1993) but it's excellent for getting a sense of the desperation and political posturing that went on in the early days of the North American phase of the epidemic.

I'd thank whoever it was that recommend the movie to me but I have forgotten who it was. My bad. (Amy Vanderbilt would weep.)

That's a good movie.

 

[blooeyz]

I remember 29 years ago, I was about 14 when I heard on the evening news about how gay men were having compromised immune systems from inhaling poppers.
I remember this, because a friend of mine had some and we tried it and laughed our asses off.
then I remember again in 1983, I was celebrating my 20th birthday at the A-house in P-town and saw a poster to benefit the mystery disease that was striking gay men. I distinctly remember this beautiful man, mid-twenties with shoulder length blonde hair was upset and being comforted by a friend. I had heard he just lost someone to the mystery illness. I can still see those images. It's funny how some things stick with you. I can only imagine how powerful the gay community would be now if we hadn't be decimated by this disease.

 

[sissyboy]

Try reading the book "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts. Good though the movie was, the book has a lot more to say.

 

[NedNickerson]

I remember a conversation I had with a girl in early Eighties... She and I had attended college together several years earlier and we had kept in touch. We were discussing my reluctance to come out the closet and have a relationship with a guy I was infatuated with. I was making excuses why I didn't want to go through with it, and then I started talking about the risk of disease. She said something like, "They've got penicillin for things like that." I replied, "Not for this, they don't..."

Around this time, there were beginning to be the first reports of HIV, AIDs, Kaposi's sarcoma, various diseases that seemed linked to gays. While I don't recall seeing hardly anything on television about, nearly all the gay magazines were talking about it.

In 1981, I was 24 years old, and these reports scared the crap out of me. Anyway, this girl and I were talking about me, and I started mentioning some of these articles I had read. She looked at me, like "what are you talking about?" I remembered I replied, "It's a new form of cancer they've found; they call it "the gay cancer," (because that's what they called it back then...) "It affects only gays..." I told her about seeing pictures of guys with Kaposi's sarcoma, but she didn't believe anything I was telling her...

She laughed, "You're crazy, that's bullshit..."

Of course, that was 25 years ago, and now everyone knows so much more and I often think about those early article, full of so much fear and misinformation, but they were the beginnings...

I've not heard from my friend since around 1993, and I often wonder if she ever remembers that conversation, what I said; and if she does remember it, does she realize now what it was I was talking about...?

 

[brisboy21]

so what u r sayin is im gay n cant have sex with out gettin somting?

 

[sunshinesteve]

so what u r sayin is im gay n cant have sex with out gettin somting?

yeah but best case senario is all you will get is love.
do not live in fear
take care of your own life you are the only one to which this responsibilty is granted
I have lived thru what unfortunately seems to be the first wave of this disease, take care of yourself and in 20 or so years you may be providing help to the next generation.
Please do not let let fear prevent you from living a happy and healthy life
Steve

 

[brisboy21]

yeah but best case senario is all you will get is love.
do not live in fear
take care of your own life you are the only one to which this responsibilty is granted
I have lived thru what unfortunately seems to be the first wave of this disease, take care of yourself and in 20 or so years you may be providing help to the next generation.
Please do not let let fear prevent you from living a happy and healthy life
Steve

yeh, ill still be here when im 40 or so yrs old, and i will be thanking for the advice,