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No, there will always be the threat of teen pregnancy. Conversely, we could wipe out HIV permanently if enough public will across the world was directed toward

No, there will always be the threat of teen pregnancy. Conversely, we could wipe out HIV permanently if enough public will across the world was directed toward it. I fully believe that HIV wouldn’t exist if PrEP had come out in the 80s when public hysteria was at an all-time high and the will to eradicate it was present.

sarchertech 3mo ago
We haven’t even managed to wipe out polio, and that is a cheap, lifelong vaccine.
- BizarroLand 3mo ago
  If we gave every living human on the planet the polio vaccine as soon as they were able to receive it, it would still exist in the wild somewhere. If new generations are not also given the vaccine, it will eventually return. Probably the same with HIV, although I could see it being somewhat more difficult for that to make a resurgence. If we inoculated the entire human race against it, it could possibly eradicate HIV for several generations, if not permanently.
  - sarchertech 3mo ago
    Humans are the only reservoir for polio, so that’s not true. We could theoretically wipe out polio just like smallpox because there are no animal reservoirs.
    - BizarroLand 3mo ago
      Huh. TIL. That boggles the mind though. Makes me wonder where it came from, or if perhaps its source was somehow killed off or otherwise destroyed, or if perhaps there is a reservoir somewhere that we simply are not aware of?
      - sarchertech 2mo ago
        There’s a fair amount of viruses that have no animal reservoir. Either they evolved from a different human virus, or from an animal virus. Measles for example evolved from a livestock virus called rinderpest and lost the ability to infect cattle as it became a specialized human virus.
- 8note 3mo ago
  not only that, people are explicitly trying to bring back measles, and succeeding at it
mrguyorama 3mo ago
>if PrEP had come out in the 80s when public hysteria was at an all-time high You mean the time the US admin was intentionally neglecting the epidemic because "it's a gay disease"? Why do you think Reagan would have done anything to ensure such a medication was easily available?

sarchertech 3mo ago

We haven’t even managed to wipe out polio, and that is a cheap, lifelong vaccine.

BizarroLand 3mo ago
If we gave every living human on the planet the polio vaccine as soon as they were able to receive it, it would still exist in the wild somewhere. If new generations are not also given the vaccine, it will eventually return. Probably the same with HIV, although I could see it being somewhat more difficult for that to make a resurgence. If we inoculated the entire human race against it, it could possibly eradicate HIV for several generations, if not permanently.
- sarchertech 3mo ago
  Humans are the only reservoir for polio, so that’s not true. We could theoretically wipe out polio just like smallpox because there are no animal reservoirs.
  - BizarroLand 3mo ago
    Huh. TIL. That boggles the mind though. Makes me wonder where it came from, or if perhaps its source was somehow killed off or otherwise destroyed, or if perhaps there is a reservoir somewhere that we simply are not aware of?
    - sarchertech 2mo ago
      There’s a fair amount of viruses that have no animal reservoir. Either they evolved from a different human virus, or from an animal virus. Measles for example evolved from a livestock virus called rinderpest and lost the ability to infect cattle as it became a specialized human virus.
8note 3mo ago
not only that, people are explicitly trying to bring back measles, and succeeding at it

mrguyorama 3mo ago

>if PrEP had come out in the 80s when public hysteria was at an all-time high You mean the time the US admin was intentionally neglecting the epidemic because "it's a gay disease"? Why do you think Reagan would have done anything to ensure such a medication was easily available?