Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site aecom.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!aecom!werner From: werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) Newsgroups: net.med,net.motss,net.singles Subject: The Age of AIDS Message-ID: <1779@aecom.UUCP> Date: Tue, 2-Jul-85 22:10:17 EDT Article-I.D.: aecom.1779 Posted: Tue Jul 2 22:10:17 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 4-Jul-85 01:09:07 EDT Distribution: na Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY Lines: 95 As those in net.med/net.motss know, I have been posting summaries of salient developments in the understanding of AIDS. Well, almost the entire June 21 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Assoc.) is devoted to AIDS. It would be too much to summarize all the articles (and they do cover almost all issues collectively), so I am just posting an edited version of one of the two editorials. I am also adding net.singles to the distribution for this time round because AIDS can no longer be considered a disease of male promiscuous homosexuals. (In fact, in my own limited clinical experience, the only AIDS patient I have actually had contact with was a young women.) -Craig Werner. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Age of AIDS A Great Time for defensive living. It was the age of overindulgence. It was the age of tolerance for anything in anyone. It was the age of fear of imposing one's own social values on someone else's. It was the age of the trivialization of sex. It was the age of anticelibacy. It was the age when early teenage sex was commonplace. It was the age when homosexuality came out of the closet and became almost acceptable to those who once found it intolerable. It was the age of easy, irresponsible oversex, abortion on demand, chlamydia, and genital herpes. And it was the age of AIDS. Not since Syphilis among the Spanish, plague among the French, tuberculosis among the Eskimos, and smallpox among the American Indians has there been a threat of such a scourge. Yet, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is different from any disease previously seen clinically and epidemiologically. After the torrents of words that have been written and spoken about AIDS, pre-AIDS, and all the rest, is there anything else to say? Yes, a great deal. Thus, this is another JAMA theme issue on AIDS, with MEDICAL NEWS stories, MMWR, ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS, a brief report, a case report, a special communication, QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, LETTERS, and two editorials, all dealing with myriad aspects of this gargantuan problem. The Medical community has responded brilliantly to this new challenge with a rapid outpouring of correct new scientific information. The salient points are: 1. AIDS is caused by an infectious agent, which has been given three names but seems to be a single retrovirus. 2. Many (but not all) who are exposed to the virus become infected, but only some (perhaps 5% to 10% per year) who become infected ultimately demonstrate symptoms. 3. It is possible that cofactors may lower resistance to and promote infectivity of the virus. 4. The virus may be transmitted from an infected person many years before the onset of clinical manifestations. 5. Latency of many years may occur between transmission, infection, and clinically manifest disease. 6. Antibody testing of serum samples is a valuable method to determine who has been exposed to the virus but it does not make the diagnosis of AIDS. 7. A very high percentage of those who develop the full-blown disease die. 8. There is no known treatment for the immune deficiency, and the treatment for complications are variable and inconsistent. : [Two columns on 'The Dilemma of Serological Testing'] : [Header: 'The Virus must be contained', ending with:] : Given the small likelihood of the success of this proposal, it may behoove those people who do not wish to get AIDS to adjust their life style so as to practice living defensively -- particularly in the sexual arena. Individuals have the power to protect themselves more than science currently can. As far as we know, prevention is fairly simple. 1. We should not inject blood or blood products that are infected by the AIDS virus into another person. 2. We should not share injection needles with someone who is infected. 3. [Women] who are carrying the AIDS virus should not become pregnant. 4. We should not engage in sexual activity (oral, anal, or vaginal) with someone who has the AIDS virus. 5. We should consider instituting serological testing for HTLV-III before the issuing of marriage licenses. This is a great time to practice sexual monogamy. Editorial signed: George D. Lundberg, MD. JAMA (June 21, 1985) 253:3441. -------- I have no comment on the above. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"