5 ms·

AIDS/HIV seems largely containable through PReP. I don’t know if long term pervasive but not universal use of PReP by those at risk would eventually lead to res

by rdl 8y ago

AIDS/HIV seems largely containable through PReP. I don’t know if long term pervasive but not universal use of PReP by those at risk would eventually lead to resistance to the medications used, though. Malaria probably can be eliminated for single digit millions of dollars through gene drive against specific species of mosquitoes which carry it. TB scares me, mainly due to high risk populations and XDR variants.

JshWright 8y ago
Yeah, while we may never win the war against HIV and Malaria, we will continue to make progress towards prevention and treatment, and they will become less and less of an issue with time. With TB we seem to be losing on both of those fronts, and it is indeed something to be scared of...
shard972 8y ago
We cannot stop AIDS/HIV research until gay sex is just as safe as hetrosexual sex. Much higher priority than malaria according to where the money is being spent....
- close04 8y ago
  Sure, because HIV through heterosexual sexual relations, needles, mother to child, and other types of bodily fluids exchange definitely aren't a thing. Let's go back 3 decades and call AIDS "GRID" again.
- rdl 8y ago
  Even if AIDS went away overnight, there would still be a whole range of other diseases spread particularly through male homosexual sex, IV drug use, and high-partner count or professional sex. I wonder at what point hepatitis actually becomes more of a problem in rich first world cities than HIV.
  - kadendogthing 8y ago
    >there would still be a whole range of other diseases spread particularly through male homosexual sex Like what?
    - rdl 8y ago
      Hepatitis, especially correlated with HIV fear being reduced due to PReP, and decreased use of condoms. I believe a lot of other STDs and diseases caused by STDs (anal cancer from HPV) are prevalent in certain communities at higher rates. It is a good argument for increased targeted education and health resources for those communities, both to help them and to reduce spread.
      - kadendogthing 8y ago
        >Hepatitis This isn't limited to homosexual activity and is far more prevalent in exclusively heterosexual "populations." In fact, there isn't a correlation between any kind of sexual spectrum (though there are sexual activities that increase risk of infection, male or female partners). It just is. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195276/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195276/ Where are you getting your information from? >HIV fear being reduced due to PReP, and decreased use of condoms. As a Western homosexual (there are more heterosexuals in the world with HIV than homosexuals), this is a concern. But it's largely about HIV resurgence. Condoms can help prevent a whole host of STI's/STD's so it's always just good practice, and one that's been waning lately due to lack of education, community reinforcement because of the former, and people thinking everyone is on PReP. And of course, HIV isn't the death sentence it once was. As far as other STD's go, you'll need to provide some data in regards to those diseases specifically impacting the homosexual community.
        rdl 8y ago
        There of course isn't one global homosexual community, but SF public health and other targeted information is what I see the most of. It may be biased just because it's pretty well funded and relatively well executed, but as someone without particular interest in STDs, it's what I see the most information about. e.g. https://josephsciambra.com/increasing-rates-of-all-stds-among-gay-men-in-san-francisco/ https://josephsciambra.com/increasing-rates-of-all-stds-amon... https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/StudiesData/STD/SFSTDAnnlSum2014.pdf https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/StudiesData/STD/SFST... http://www.sfcityclinic.org/providers/PromotingSexualHealth_Clinicians_112717.pdf http://www.sfcityclinic.org/providers/PromotingSexualHealth_... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034619/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034619/ Re: Hepatitis: https://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/viral-hepatitis.htm https://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/viral-hepatitis.htm In general total number of infected persons is probably not as meaningful a metric in terms of transmission risk for a member of the population as rate per 100k or rate of new infections per year per 100k in a group. There are a lot more heterosexuals, non-IV-drug-users, and non-professional-sex-workers in the world. It's also possibly worth normalizing rates based on age cohort or number of sexual partners, relationship status, etc.; a monogamous gay couple of 20 years is essentially certainly of lower STD risk than a heterosexual with multiple new partners per year. But as a population, certain populations do tend to engage in a constellation of riskier behaviors, and have higher incidence of disease and of new infection.
- kadendogthing 8y ago
  There are more heterosexuals with HIV than homosexuals.
jayalpha 8y ago
This are some amazing buzz words your have learned. "Malaria probably can be eliminated for single digit millions of dollars through gene drive against specific species of mosquitoes which carry it." Probably. And to throw a mutagenic chain reaction against evolutionary pressure, what possibly could go wrong? And why does this not work in the lab and why do mosquitoes develop resistance against gene drive after a few generations?
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  It never ceases to amaze me how easy people like HN User "rdl" believe fixing Malaria is. They think we can just wave a magic wand, and all of a sudden the world would be rid of Malarial disease. Do they think idiots have been working on this problem for the past 2 or 3 hundred years? Malaria is one of the most savagely cunning bugs around. Given the history of our fight against it, to imply that we are going to get rid of it with a bit of genetic pixie dust is just astoundingly naive.
  - rdl 8y ago
    Just like we got rid of smallpox with (initially) cowpox pixie dust? Or are very close to getting rid of polio with vaccine pixie dust? (Massive amounts of work to deploy each of these to the entire affected populations, but at core the technology is what makes it possible.)
    - subcosmos 8y ago
      Don't bother arguing with these trolls .... they seem woefully ignorant of just how fast things are moving in the lab, particularly with the sudden explosion of genomics and high throughput screening.
      - jayalpha 8y ago
        Dude, I possible working with HTS before you were born.

by rdl 8y ago

JshWright 8y ago

Yeah, while we may never win the war against HIV and Malaria, we will continue to make progress towards prevention and treatment, and they will become less and less of an issue with time. With TB we seem to be losing on both of those fronts, and it is indeed something to be scared of...

shard972 8y ago

We cannot stop AIDS/HIV research until gay sex is just as safe as hetrosexual sex. Much higher priority than malaria according to where the money is being spent....

close04 8y ago
Sure, because HIV through heterosexual sexual relations, needles, mother to child, and other types of bodily fluids exchange definitely aren't a thing. Let's go back 3 decades and call AIDS "GRID" again.
rdl 8y ago
Even if AIDS went away overnight, there would still be a whole range of other diseases spread particularly through male homosexual sex, IV drug use, and high-partner count or professional sex. I wonder at what point hepatitis actually becomes more of a problem in rich first world cities than HIV.
- kadendogthing 8y ago
  >there would still be a whole range of other diseases spread particularly through male homosexual sex Like what?
  - rdl 8y ago
    Hepatitis, especially correlated with HIV fear being reduced due to PReP, and decreased use of condoms. I believe a lot of other STDs and diseases caused by STDs (anal cancer from HPV) are prevalent in certain communities at higher rates. It is a good argument for increased targeted education and health resources for those communities, both to help them and to reduce spread.
    - kadendogthing 8y ago
      >Hepatitis This isn't limited to homosexual activity and is far more prevalent in exclusively heterosexual "populations." In fact, there isn't a correlation between any kind of sexual spectrum (though there are sexual activities that increase risk of infection, male or female partners). It just is. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195276/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195276/ Where are you getting your information from? >HIV fear being reduced due to PReP, and decreased use of condoms. As a Western homosexual (there are more heterosexuals in the world with HIV than homosexuals), this is a concern. But it's largely about HIV resurgence. Condoms can help prevent a whole host of STI's/STD's so it's always just good practice, and one that's been waning lately due to lack of education, community reinforcement because of the former, and people thinking everyone is on PReP. And of course, HIV isn't the death sentence it once was. As far as other STD's go, you'll need to provide some data in regards to those diseases specifically impacting the homosexual community.
      - rdl 8y ago
        There of course isn't one global homosexual community, but SF public health and other targeted information is what I see the most of. It may be biased just because it's pretty well funded and relatively well executed, but as someone without particular interest in STDs, it's what I see the most information about. e.g. https://josephsciambra.com/increasing-rates-of-all-stds-among-gay-men-in-san-francisco/ https://josephsciambra.com/increasing-rates-of-all-stds-amon... https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/StudiesData/STD/SFSTDAnnlSum2014.pdf https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/reports/StudiesData/STD/SFST... http://www.sfcityclinic.org/providers/PromotingSexualHealth_Clinicians_112717.pdf http://www.sfcityclinic.org/providers/PromotingSexualHealth_... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034619/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034619/ Re: Hepatitis: https://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/viral-hepatitis.htm https://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/viral-hepatitis.htm In general total number of infected persons is probably not as meaningful a metric in terms of transmission risk for a member of the population as rate per 100k or rate of new infections per year per 100k in a group. There are a lot more heterosexuals, non-IV-drug-users, and non-professional-sex-workers in the world. It's also possibly worth normalizing rates based on age cohort or number of sexual partners, relationship status, etc.; a monogamous gay couple of 20 years is essentially certainly of lower STD risk than a heterosexual with multiple new partners per year. But as a population, certain populations do tend to engage in a constellation of riskier behaviors, and have higher incidence of disease and of new infection.
kadendogthing 8y ago
There are more heterosexuals with HIV than homosexuals.

jayalpha 8y ago

This are some amazing buzz words your have learned. "Malaria probably can be eliminated for single digit millions of dollars through gene drive against specific species of mosquitoes which carry it." Probably. And to throw a mutagenic chain reaction against evolutionary pressure, what possibly could go wrong? And why does this not work in the lab and why do mosquitoes develop resistance against gene drive after a few generations?

bilbo0s 8y ago
It never ceases to amaze me how easy people like HN User "rdl" believe fixing Malaria is. They think we can just wave a magic wand, and all of a sudden the world would be rid of Malarial disease. Do they think idiots have been working on this problem for the past 2 or 3 hundred years? Malaria is one of the most savagely cunning bugs around. Given the history of our fight against it, to imply that we are going to get rid of it with a bit of genetic pixie dust is just astoundingly naive.
- rdl 8y ago
  Just like we got rid of smallpox with (initially) cowpox pixie dust? Or are very close to getting rid of polio with vaccine pixie dust? (Massive amounts of work to deploy each of these to the entire affected populations, but at core the technology is what makes it possible.)
  - subcosmos 8y ago
    Don't bother arguing with these trolls .... they seem woefully ignorant of just how fast things are moving in the lab, particularly with the sudden explosion of genomics and high throughput screening.
    - jayalpha 8y ago
      Dude, I possible working with HTS before you were born.