His mom is cured

[Duneknight]

listen to Puddle-Jumper, the guy studying it.

if it's in you, you're infected - there's no 'carrier' version of it, it's active or it's not there.

he states that, yes, it may be possible to have the RNA of it in saliva - but makes clear the infection itself is not present with that.

in other words - no, it isn't possible for eli to be carrying HIV.



as for the idea of carrying a disease that can't be detected - we know what HIV is, we know how to detect it. it's not some mystery to us - so if someone is infected, it's able to be found.

you're trying to suggest that practically everyone is carrying HIV (both on-screen and in the real world - on-screen they're breathing eli's air, real world we don't know who is infected) - this is clearly wrong, as otherwise it could theoretically activate in anyone, anytime.

other diseases can actually be spread by air, without any physical contact - but HIV, from what i'm seeing in this thread, requires it to do its job. just because tv or wiki communities suggest commonly-held myths are facts, doesn't mean they are.

i generally agree with those statements except for the highlighted part. It is a mystery still, we dont know much about it and not all unique cases are documented or studied. HIV is in blood, urine, salvia or any fluid including tears probably sweat. Would be hard to avoid them when in close contact so they do seep into other people through. However in order for one to be infected they would have to get a lot of it which is impossible at least thats what they say. Even unprotected sex doesnt always lead to infection. Its all about the probability. As for Eli, i was trying to think of a why for how the crew can introduce earth's viruses to their new planet. Whether AIDS can be dormant and carried for ages within people's genes i do not know. I know however that viruses are a mystery, we still dont know the source.

[LtColCarter]

i generally agree with those statements except for the highlighted part. It is a mystery still, we dont know much about it and not all unique cases are documented or studied. HIV is in blood, urine, salvia or any fluid including tears probably sweat. Would be hard to avoid them when in close contact so they do seep into other people through. However in order for one to be infected they would have to get a lot of it which is impossible at least thats what they say. Even unprotected sex doesnt always lead to infection. Its all about the probability. As for Eli, i was trying to think of a why for how the crew can introduce earth's viruses to their new planet. Whether AIDS can be dormant and carried for ages within people's genes i do not know. I know however that viruses are a mystery, we still dont know the source.

There ya go again...its not AIDS...its HIV. If you have AIDS...you'd know it. However, the HIV virus can be dormant in a person's system for years. Although, most people, when infected with HIV sero-covert with in 3 weeks. In other words, it is detectable in the person's system within 3 weeks. Also, its not a genetic illness...so would would it be in the genes??? HIV is a viral infection.

[morbosfist]

Why do you insist on trying to ignore the truth about the virus? It isn't some mystery. Yes, we do know what it is. Yes, we do know how it spreads. Yes, we know a lot about it. The only thing we don't know is how to cure it, and that's because it's a retrovirus that is very difficult to kill.

It isn't spread through tears or saliva (this reminds me of those ridiculous PSA videos where they keep the HIV-positive kid from drinking from the same fountain). So please, get off this idea that he could somehow have it from everyday contact. It's absurd.

[LtColCarter]

Why do you insist on trying to ignore the truth about the virus? It isn't some mystery. Yes, we do know what it is. Yes, we do know how it spreads. Yes, we know a lot about it. The only thing we don't know is how to cure it, and that's because it's a retrovirus that is very difficult to kill.

It isn't spread through tears or saliva (this reminds me of those ridiculous PSA videos where they keep the HIV-positive kid from drinking from the same fountain). So please, get off this idea that he could somehow have it from everyday contact. It's absurd.

I agree...and even if he did have some HIV "on his clothes"...it would be dead by now since it cannot live long outside of the body.

[Jonzey]

But I heard that Jesus injects you with AIDS when you have premarital sex or hold hands. Lots of people on Destiny have done that, therefore they all have AIDS.

[morbosfist]

But I heard that Jesus injects you with AIDS when you have premarital sex or hold hands. Lots of people on Destiny have done that, therefore they all have AIDS.

That crazy Jebus, always the joker.

[Duneknight]

Why do you insist on trying to ignore the truth about the virus? It isn't some mystery. Yes, we do know what it is. Yes, we do know how it spreads. Yes, we know a lot about it. The only thing we don't know is how to cure it, and that's because it's a retrovirus that is very difficult to kill.

It isn't spread through tears or saliva (this reminds me of those ridiculous PSA videos where they keep the HIV-positive kid from drinking from the same fountain). So please, get off this idea that he could somehow have it from everyday contact. It's absurd.

its possible through very small amounts. When people talk directly at you they spitting saliva, at some point your mouth, nose, eyes will have it in you but really really small obviously, too small to matter. The only way to know if AIDS can ever make it to novus is by knowing how it made it to Earth in the first place. Was it a monkey thing that all of a sudden came to existence or was it dormant throughout the ages within nature?

[Keeper]

i generally agree with those statements except for the highlighted part. It is a mystery still, we dont know much about it and not all unique cases are documented or studied. HIV is in blood, urine, salvia or any fluid including tears probably sweat. Would be hard to avoid them when in close contact so they do seep into other people through. However in order for one to be infected they would have to get a lot of it which is impossible at least thats what they say. Even unprotected sex doesnt always lead to infection. Its all about the probability. As for Eli, i was trying to think of a why for how the crew can introduce earth's viruses to their new planet. Whether AIDS can be dormant and carried for ages within people's genes i do not know. I know however that viruses are a mystery, we still dont know the source.

funny enough, P-J stated he's studied the evolutionary history of HIV. when we know it's history, we know plenty about it. it's not magic - just because you and i don't know the details, it doesn't mean we can disregard someone who clearly states his background and area of study.

unprotected sex doesn't always lead to infection - true. so, if unprotected sex has only a 'chance' of infection, then how in blazes does sweat or saliva have any hope? we don't sweat into other people's mouths, nor spit into them, making this a highly unlikely infection mechanic.

LtColCarter states clearly:

HIV is a very fragile virus. It cannot live long outside of the body.

with this in mind, it's clearly improbable that it's in the air that eli has been breathing, unless he's practically breathing into and out of her mouth. it doesn't last long enough outside the body for anything other than body-to-body contact - and since it needs the bloodstream to work properly, it's safe to say that holding hands after a strenuous walk or something isn't going to transmit it. not unless one or both are bleeding, and to be honest in eli's case, because he's living with it, he's probably well aware of the need for avoiding blood contact.



not all unique cases are documented, of course, you're right - however, eli is hardly a 'unique case' - he's an average 20something living with his mother, nothing unusual about his lifestyle or ethnic background. he's intentionally portrayed as just another average bloke, maybe a bit immature, but definitely not out of the ordinary.



you'll note i specifically stated that

we know what HIV is, we know how to detect it. it's not some mystery to us

i didn't mention any other viruses, though we know plenty about lots of them - at least the people studying them do. we, the common people, trust in those studying them to know better than us - i for one certainly don't need to know the history of everything. if i were interested, i'd look for it, but i'm not.

however, for those things we don't know much about, thats fine - it would be possible to argue in favour of some of them getting into the population. ALS for example is something that seems hard to pin down to anything in particular. but HIV is something you've been told is understood by the people who have to know about it, it's best to accept that and move on from it.



now, time to go chat to Mr Brick Wall. i think he's got some interesting insights on the existence of the sun

[carmencatalina]

bah, can't green

Greened for ya.

[carmencatalina]

HIV is probably, at this point, one of the most well-studied viruses on earth. We know its complete genome sequence (RNA, since it is a retro-virus). We know how it enters cells, we know why some people (with the CCR5-delta 32 deletion) are resistant, we know a lot about its evolutionary history, and we can detect is easily.

It is not a mystery.

[jelgate]

HIV is probably, at this point, one of the most well-studied viruses on earth. We know its complete genome sequence (RNA, since it is a retro-virus). We know how it enters cells, we know why some people (with the CCR5-delta 32 deletion) are resistant, we know a lot about its evolutionary history, and we can detect is easily.

It is not a mystery.

Except how to cure it.


Sorry I couldn't resist but you are right the virus and it what it does is well known

[carmencatalina]

Except how to cure it.


Sorry I couldn't resist but you are right the virus and it what it does is well known

We don't know how to "cure" any virus-born diseases, actually. We know how the immune system clears a virus like a cold, but because HIV attacks the immune system itself, it is a hum-dinger of a problem.

We can sometimes (but not always) develop vaccines against some viruses, but you will notice that there is no vaccine against the million and one strains of the common cold, nor a general vaccine that will protect you against all strains of the flu.

Virus-born diseases are by far the hardest thing for us to tackle - without a cell to attack (as in bacteria), getting a viral infection out of a vertebrate host is a pain in the, well, immune system.

[morbosfist]

its possible through very small amounts. When people talk directly at you they spitting saliva, at some point your mouth, nose, eyes will have it in you but really really small obviously, too small to matter. The only way to know if AIDS can ever make it to novus is by knowing how it made it to Earth in the first place. Was it a monkey thing that all of a sudden came to existence or was it dormant throughout the ages within nature?

No, it is not. This is a fact you continue to ignore. It is not a virus transmitted by saliva, period. Quit harping on that. It will never be true.

[jelgate]

We don't know how to "cure" any virus-born diseases, actually. We know how the immune system clears a virus like a cold, but because HIV attacks the immune system itself, it is a hum-dinger of a problem.

We can sometimes (but not always) develop vaccines against some viruses, but you will notice that there is no vaccine against the million and one strains of the common cold, nor a general vaccine that will protect you against all strains of the flu.

Virus-born diseases are by far the hardest thing for us to tackle - without a cell to attack (as in bacteria), getting a viral infection out of a vertebrate host is a pain in the, well, immune system.

This is a nitpick I recall their are a select few antivirals that will kill a virus but on the whole you are right\that a killing of a virus is not possible because of the way they inject themselves into a cell.

[LtColCarter]

its possible through very small amounts. When people talk directly at you they spitting saliva, at some point your mouth, nose, eyes will have it in you but really really small obviously, too small to matter. The only way to know if AIDS can ever make it to novus is by knowing how it made it to Earth in the first place. Was it a monkey thing that all of a sudden came to existence or was it dormant throughout the ages within nature?

For at least the fifth time today...YOU CAN'T GET AIDS...you CAN get HIV...which can develop into AIDS.

HIV didn't come to Earth... its not a space virus. And it wasn't from a monkey, it was from a chimpanzee. Viruses can do what is known as a species jump from one species to another. This is what happened in the case of HIV.

I just honestly feel that you're not reading a bit of the information we've given to you. If you want a good history on HIV and how it jumped to humans...click here.