From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,ca.politics
Subject: Re: aids conference in cuba
Date: 28 Jul 92 17:57:29 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <Jul.27.16.24.42.1992.11739@joes.garage.com>, shibumi@joes.garage.com (Kenton A. Hoover) writes:
> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
> >In the U.S., heterosexual IV drug abusers are rising fast.  (Most
> >of AIDS patients in the U.S. are still homosexuals, of course).
> 
> IV drug users don't tend to live as long after contracting HIV as
> other reasonably healthy individuals.  Has to do with existing damage
> to their bodies from drug use, plus fewer long-term drug users tend to
> be gainfully employed, have health insurance, etc.  This might skew the
> statistics somewhat.

It might.  But the total number of cases reported by CDC through
November 1991 (not just those still alive):

Table 5.   Adult/adolescent AIDS cases by sex, exposure category, and 
  race/ethnicity, reported through November 1991, United States 
  (Continued) 

                                                    American 
                                     Asian/          Indian/
                                     Pacific         Alaskan
MALE                                 Islander        Native          Total****
 
EXPOSURE CATEGORY                    No.   (%)       No.   (%)       No.   (%)
 
Men who have sex with men            924  (81)       172  (64)   116,609  (65)
 
Injecting drug use                    40   (4)        33  (12)    34,309  (19)
 
Men who have sex with men 
  and injecting drug use              27   (2)        41  (15)    12,953   (7)
 
Hemophilia/coagulation disorder       18   (2)         8   (3)     1,641   (1)
 
Heterosexual contact:                  9   (1)         3   (1)     4,558   (3)
 
  Sex with injecting drug user            5               3           1,828 
  Sex with person with hemophilia         -               -               9 
  Born in Pattern-II* country             2               -           1,779 
  Sex with person born in 
    Pattern-II country                    1               -              99 
  Sex with transfusion recipient
    with HIV infection                    -               -              76 
  Sex with person with HIV
    infection, risk not specified         1               -             767 

Receipt of blood transfusion, 
  blood components, or tissue**       53   (5)         1   (0)     2,650   (1)
 
Other/undetermined***                 64   (6)        11   (4)     5,958   (3)
 
Male subtotal                      1,135 (100)       269 (100)   178,678 (100)
 
FEMALE
EXPOSURE CATEGORY 

Injecting drug use                    16  (16)        24  (55)    10,482  (51)
 
Hemophilia/coagulation disorder        -   (0)         -   (0)        39   (0)
 
Heterosexual contact:                 35  (35)        10  (23)     7,051  (34)
 
    Sex with injecting drug user         14               7           4,361 
    Sex with bisexual male               10               1             643 
    Sex with person with hemophilia       2               -              93 
    Born in Pattern-II country            -               -             704 
    Sex with person born
      in Pattern-II country               -               -              76 
    Sex with transfusion recipient
      with HIV infection                  2               -             160 
    Sex with person with HIV
      infection, risk not specified       7               2           1,014 

Receipt of blood transfusion, 
    blood components, or tissue       32  (32)         5  (11)     1,656   (8)
 
Other/undetermined                    18  (18)         5  (11)     1,511   (7)
 
Female subtotal                      101 (100)        44 (100)    20,739 (100)
 
TOTAL                                 1,236             313         199,417 

As you can see, about 10K female cases from IV drug abuse, about 34K male
cases from IV drug abuse -- compared to 116K cases just from homosexual
sex.  Even including heterosexual contact with IV drug abusers doesn't 
change the numbers dramatically.

> >Have I been tested?  Only as a consequence of donating blood.  Of
> >course, I do something terribly perverse: monogamy.  My wife shares
> >in this perversion.  We have nothing to worry about, unless 
> >some AIDS-tainted blood slips through the screening system, and we
> >are suddenly in need of blood for an unplanned operation.  But
> >then again, that's another argument for mandatory testing, isn't it?
> 
> Due to the several month 'window' that exists between the time of 
> infection with HIV and the production of antibodies, the blood supply
> is still at risk until a cure can be found.  

My point was that there is some risk associated, even today, and
by the liberal mindset, mandatory testing and quarantine (the traditional
liberal solution to STDs) could be justified as a "common good."

> >The homosexual community brought AIDS on themselves, by their
> >promiscuity and complete lack of concern about STDs.
> 
> Like the hetrosexual community brought syphilis or chlaymydia upon itself?
> Like the people of Europe brought plague upon themselves?  You can do 
> better than that, Clayton -- you aren't that poor a thinker.

The gay community hasn't stopped the practices that spread AIDS, as
some of my other postings have shown.

By the way, I would certainly agree that someone suffering from herpes
as a result of promiscuous sex gets little sympathy from me.
 
> The homosexual community has managed to greatly slow the progress of HIV thru 
> the population.  On the other hand, in the hetrosexual community, HIV spreads 

It has?  The last CDC report I saw indicated that it was coming back
up among the gay community.  I see postings in soc.motss from homosexuals
depressed about the fact that they are seeing gays under 30 with AIDS --
who should have known better.

> by leaps and bounds.  In Africa, one could argue that HIV is the 'hetrosexual'
> disease, based on its explosive growth in the population.  Denial that HIV
> is a general problem, of the entire population, is a major reason for its
> spread.
> 
> | Kenton A. Hoover                                                            |

It's spreading fast in Africa because of promiscuity and prostitution --
the same reason it spread so fast among gays in the U.S.  The same
problem, the same solution: a little self-restraint.
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
"Well, maybe the Holocaust was right *for that culture*." -- a moral relativist
with whom I work.
Xref: sparky talk.politics.misc:35453 alt.politics.clinton:381