AIDS Vaccine?

whoa, hang on just a moment! are you guys saying cervical cancer can be caused by irresponsible sexual behaviour?

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In a round about sort of way... yes.

70% of cervical cancer is caused by the human papiloma virus, which is an STD. So, safe sex reduces the incidence of cervical cancer.

EnemyPartyII said:

In a round about sort of way... yes.

70% of cervical cancer is caused by the human papiloma virus, which is an STD. So, safe sex reduces the incidence of cervical cancer.

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So how does the cancer know if your married or not?

RavenPoe said:

I too read all about the religious opposition to the HPV vaccine and imagine a similar, but greater, reaction to an HIV vaccine.

This comes from the same stable of people who oppose making condoms available in schools, as they equate arming the youth with information and protection with giving them a license to fornicate.

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If everyone thinks that sex is the only way HIV is transmitted, then everyone is sadly mistaken.

And saying the HPV shot will condone premarital sex is basically saying that a tetanus shot will encourage people to step on rusty nails.

KatAutumn said:

Since when did we, as a civilized society, start opposing medical treatment that could save lives based upon whether or not the person who is sick got that way because of irresponsible choices? That would be like telling someone you're putting yourself in harm's way by working in a doctor's office, so you shouldn't be allowed to get a flu shot or that someone cannot receive chemotherapy for lung cancer because they were a smoker. Is the only reason the HIV vaccine would be opposed is because it is usually tied to having sexual relations with an infected person? Nobody seems to care if a Diabetic is receiving dialysis because they had horrible eating habits all their life.

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FundyChick said:

If everyone thinks that sex is the only way HIV is transmitted, then everyone is sadly mistaken.

And saying the HPV shot will condone premarital sex is basically saying that a tetanus shot will encourage people to step on rusty nails.

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two excellent posts, well done! and they made me giggle a bit too..

So how does the cancer know if your married or not?

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Um, it doesn't... but the virus that generates 70% of cervical cancer can be avoided by safe sex... you asked about irresponsibkle sexual behaviour... not marriage

Steezie said:

I dont think there will ever be an AIDS vaccine because there is just WAY too much money tied up in AIDS research, charities, medical care etc etc.

Cure AIDS and you're sealing up a GOLD MINE and people know it.

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That's a problem that researchers are muddling over right now. My parents work for a large pharm company and they have recently (in the last few years) closed down their infectious disease division and vaccine research. Why? Because it's not profitable. The biggest target for infectious disease such as heptitis and AIDS is the third world, and vaccines prevent illnesses, while treatment means prolonging one. It's a sad truth that companies make more money from treating a disease rather than preventing it. Surgeons get paid more than internists. Cocktail drugs is more expensive than a vaccine (if it comes in the future).

I also saw an interesting show about AIDS in Africa, about a researcher there who says he hopes to find a cure before a vaccine because once a vaccine is found, there will be no more money from developed nations for a cure. Remember, many diseases that ravage third world countries have vaccines against them today. And he also mentioned that a vaccine today doesn't negate the millions that will continue to suffer this disease, nor prevent many more people from getting infected due to lack of immunization in these poor countries. Something to think about.

mariechen said:

i'm interested in how such a vaccine would work because
1. isn't a virus extremely hard to treat
2. it's in your blood... how do you treat a blood virus that gets pumped through your whole body?
but also, i would say it oculd work if the patient is on a healthy diet and looks after his/her immune system (after all, that is what the virus attacks)

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I think you have some misunderstandings about how a vaccine work. A vaccine is a weakened or dead or genetically altered form of a virus or bacteria which is introduced into the body to trick the immune system into reacting against it.

The human body can form something called antibodies against an infinite number of foreign 'markers' (viruses, bacterias etc) if given enough time. These antibodies can then kill the foreign marker and extinguish the disease.

However, the disease may kill the person before that happens. A vaccine introduces a harmless version of the disease into the body, tricking the body into reacting and fighting against it, so that when the disease next attacks for real, the body already have the immunity against it. Sorry, I can't do a better job describing it, but that's a (rough) outline of how vaccines work in laymen's term.

AIDS is tricky because it is extremely mutagenic. Hence, anytime a vaccine is introduced against a current strain, a mutated form already exists which will survive against the vaccine induced antibodies to continue to attack the body. The vaccine will, in affect, allow for selection of those strains that are resistant, resulting in a mutant, vaccine-resistant strain. Evolution at work right here.

Sadly, my virology professor believes the current strategy we have against AIDS will never come up with a vaccine or cure. She believes the disease will simply become a chronic, treatment ailment like hepatitis.

just a fact i thought might interest you all, especially after the previous posters (very accurate) statement that most diseases that ravage developing countries already have vaccines... it's worse than that...

some of you might have read in a previous Time that 1.9 million children under the age of 5 in developing countries die annually due to diarrhoea/dehydration... and the cure is a simple litre of water with a teaspoon of salt and a cup of sugar.

so it's not just viruses and stuff... it's ignorance. which is, in my opinion, the most deadly threat to the modern world.

To the OP:

Don't forget, God sent us AIDS as a cure for homosexuality!

FundyChick said:

And saying the HPV shot will condone premarital sex is basically saying that a tetanus shot will encourage people to step on rusty nails.

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I think you're judging my rusty nail stepping.

There would be the small percentage of conservative Christians who would oppose it because, believe it or not, a very small percentage of silly people believe that AIDS is God's divine punishment for homosexuality. Is hard as it is believe, people have some stupid ideas.....and usually the most annoying voice is the loudest, and that small percentage might ruin it for everyone else.

JGG said:

I think you're judging my rusty nail stepping.

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I apologize.

FundyChick said:

If everyone thinks that sex is the only way HIV is transmitted, then everyone is sadly mistaken.

And saying the HPV shot will condone premarital sex is basically saying that a tetanus shot will encourage people to step on rusty nails.

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Sex is the biggest way HIV is transmitted, through premarital and homosexual sex.

And the HPV shot is far different from the tetanus shot. A tetanus shot is there to protect you from infection resulting from stepping on a rusty nail. The HPV shot is there to protect you from a just consequence of immoral sex.

Trinityness said:

Sex is the biggest way HIV is transmitted, through premarital and homosexual sex.

And the HPV shot is far different from the tetanus shot. A tetanus shot is there to protect you from infection resulting from stepping on a rusty nail. The HPV shot is there to protect you from a just consequence of immoral sex.

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wow. just...... wow.

Sex is the biggest way HIV is transmitted, through premarital and homosexual sex.

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Do you have a link for this? My understanding is that homosecuals ARE at risk of HIV from unprotected sex, but heterosexuals are most likely to get it from sharing needles...

The HPV shot is there to protect you from a just consequence of immoral sex.

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Except that you can get HPV WITHOUT having sex

Trinityness said:

Sex is the biggest way HIV is transmitted, through premarital and homosexual sex.

And the HPV shot is far different from the tetanus shot. A tetanus shot is there to protect you from infection resulting from stepping on a rusty nail. The HPV shot is there to protect you from a just consequence of immoral sex.

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Even if I entertained the idea that disease is a "just" consequence" ..... people who suffer the consequences aren't always the ones who committed the "immoral" act.

Say I live without having premarital sex and am stil a virgin when I marry a man who is not a virgin (and has not been honest about this fact) he's not aware he has HPV. I contract HPV from him, and am unaware I am infected, several years later I get cervical cancer.

How in the world am I suffering a "just" consequence?