SCI:BIO:Re: HIV=AIDS
Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Mon, 3 Mar 1997 20:30:25 +0100 (MET)
On Mon, 3 Mar 1997, Steve Edwards wrote:
> [...]
> >1) AIDs is not at all male specific. The over abundance of male cases in
> the U.S. is entirely due to its route of entry onto American soil via a
> homosexual community that was incredibly promiscuous. New cases of HIV
> infection not attributable to needles show a female dominant pattern with
> African American teenaged girls most at risk.
> >
> >2) There is something strange about the latency period. It keeps
> increasing. At the present rate, it won't be odd to find HIV positive
There is little strangeness, actually, we see a fresh hypervariable
parasite adapting on a quite homogenous, mobile host substrate. The same
evolution process which makes it quite hard for host's immune system to
"seek and destroy" the aggressor will select for progressively benign
relationship. Of course, this is little help to those neoplague victims
who are busily dying.
> [...]
ciao,
'gene