Posted by Rocky on August 25, 2003 at 01:11:29
In Reply to: Re: on aids transmission posted by informant on August 24, 2003 at 15:09:33:
According to most research, the reason why so many people automatically associated aids as a "gay" illness was the early high per capita incidence of aids in the gay population. Apart from sharing an HIV infected needle or receiving tainted blood, unprotected anal sex was and continues to be a very high risk form of sexual contact in relation to spreading HIV.
Blood to blood contact is the most effective means the virus has for transference from one individual to another. Anal sex often involves some measure of tearing, (not always resulting in pain or detection by participants), which in turn creates strong receptor sites for transference of the virus. Currently one of HIV's highest areas of growth is in the female population. No one really knows for sure exactly how the HIV virus got started. Be that as it may, the virus is now entrenched in both hetrosexual and homosexual populations and has been particularly devestating in areas of Africa. It is also important to note that outside of the areas of risk the virus is fragile and is not easily transmitted. There have been reports of the virus living for 24 hours in bodily fluids on a countertop but there is no solid evidence that that is actually the case. Some researchers do fear that the virus may eventually mutate and develop a greater ability to survive outside a host organism.