From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!fmc Newsgroups: net.singles Title: AIDS Article-I.D.: mhtsa.271 Posted: Tue Jan 11 18:23:09 1983 Received: Thu Jan 13 04:37:52 1983 The recent discussion of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) on this news-group prompted me to ask a nurse what she knew about it. She said she had just attended a seminar on it at her hospital. The following points emerged from our talk: 1. It is currently most predominant in homosexuals, BUT it is beginning to spread to non-homosexuals. 2. Transmission methods seem to involve some bodily secretion, including saliva. 3. She said that it could be acquired from DRY, but contaminated, toilet seats up to 90 minutes after the contamination! 4. A very fatal form of skin cancer can occur in victims. 5. Your best defense at present is to practice good personal hygiene habits (washing before handling food, after using the bathroom, etc). I got no information as to the frequency of occurrance in the population as a whole. This is the most interesting data I feel is still missing. If anyone has info on this, please post it. It makes a great difference whether this is a disease that affects only 0.1% of the population EVERY year, or whether the affected population is doubling (or whatever) EACH year.