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Originally Posted by itch vaccine
mmm 8-11 yrs
so fuck now and think later? :P
hahahaa.  just kiddin' |
Even though you don't have AIDS, you are HIV+ and can infect others with HIV. I'm pretty sure you understood that, but I wouldn't want anyone thinking they weren't infectious unless they had AIDS.
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Originally Posted by itch vaccine
Thanks for the update on the vaccine, thermopyle.
I heard that it only infects humans? When tested on animals, it isn't lethal? hmm..
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Well,
Human Immunodeficieny Virus only infects humans. There's SIV (Simian-IV... infects the other apes), FIV (felines), and probably a couple others. FIV is actually getting to be a pretty big problem in the stray population.
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Originally Posted by WillyPete
You can't cure viruses.
You never have the same cold or other virus twice. Your body builds a resistance to one particular variant.
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Not a hard rule. Initial infection may grant only partial immunity... meaning subsequent infections are possible, though the symptoms are less severe (I.E. you don't get as sick and/or get better quicker).
For some of the really fancy stuff, subsequent infections might have a totally different pathology than the initial infection. But, yeah, for the most part you only get really sick from a given virus strain once.
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Originally Posted by WillyPete
People keep confusing that. You merely build up an immunity. The problem is, it attacks the very system that is meant to protect you.
When you then get other virus infections, that immune system kicks off and then the HIV infection can assume a full blown AIDS status.
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AIDS is pretty much a general immunodeficiency with HIV present. You can be in pretty much the same condition from chemotherapy or organ transplants, but you won't have AIDS, because you don't have HIV. HIV plays a pivotal, but very small, role in AIDS.
To address
Stompy...
The reason HIV is so hard to cure (semantical issues about "curing HIV" aside) is because you have to figure out how to get rid of HIV without also getting rid of the immune cells that HIV infects.
"The cure was a success, but the patient died."