So, this is a little argument I got into on facebook the other day with a friend of a friend. Seriously. I wish I was making this up.
Brian Mayes
"90 people get the swine flu & everyone is wearing a face mask. Millions of people have AIDS but no one wears a condom! (@djcdub)"
Russ Roar at 7:36am May 2
"Health officials know, KNOW, that if we had quarantined aides virus patients at the beginning, we would have killed it quickly and safely. Hmm."
Rob Tashiro at 9:10am May 2
"please tell me you're joking..."
Russ Roar
Russ Roar at 5:04pm May 2
"Any contagion goes, 2,4,8,16,32, and something like that. Figure it out."
Rob Tashiro at 6:31pm May 2
"My friend, the Aids virus (A.I.D.S- Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Aides-people who assist educators and such) has a dormancy of often ten to fifteen years, quarantine would not have been possible. Also, seeing how the virus is largely a global issue and since America is a global hub, quarantine would not be feasible. Finally, Aids is not casually contracted so quarantine is in no way appropriate. Reagan's (who I'm sure you admire) surgeon general, C.Everett Koop, said as much. Look it up."
Russ Roar at 7:37am May 4
"You are totally correct about these facts. Your assumption about Reagan's staff is incorrect. The other fact is that we know of a "Patient Number 1." That's all I'm saying. Obviously that Q'tine option is over, come on get serious."
Brian Mayes
"What did I start?"
Rob Tashiro at 1:20pm May 4
Hopefully, a healthy (albeit serious) conversation. Russ, I see your point about the issue being "over," but in my opinion, the same line of misinformation and a misunderstanding of facts continues to haunt this nation in many arenas. Thanks for the posts.
At the CDC researchers had been continuing to investigate the cause of AIDS through a study of the sexual contacts of homosexual men in Los Angeles and New York. They identified a man as the link between a number of different cases and they named him "patient O" for "Out of California". The research appeared to confirm that AIDS was a transmittable disease, and the co-operation of "patient O" contributed to the study.
ReplyDeleteHowever a problem arose when other people read the scientific paper.
"I called this guy Patient O... But my colleagues read it as Patient Zero." - Darrow for Newsweek
And so in March 1984 the myth of Patient Zero began.
That being said, I hate people.
American's just love their Internment Camps, eh? Perhaps those at Guantanamo will be deemed as "contagious" too?
ReplyDeletesteve w.