AIDS and RE: The worst (hist.) surgical proc.
Jerry
was cross posted there and I consider it my duty as an AIDS volunteer
to educate...
This quote is taken without permission from the 15 Feb 1986 issue of
Science News (page 101):
"Anthropologist Uli Linke of the University of California at Berkely
suggests in the Jan. 17 _Science_ that the practice of clitorodectomy
may provide an explaination [of the heterosexual transmission of AIDS
in Africa]. Areas in Africa where part of the female genitalia is
ritually removed correspond to the areas of the epidemic, she says.
After some types of clitorodectomy, vaginal intercourse can cause
bleeding, and anal intercourse is often substituted. Either practice,
notes Linke, could encourage spread of the virus."
I intend to read the original article or letter shortly and will post
any additional info to net.med and net.motss. Incidently, what does
motss mean or stand for?
Jerry I Natowitz
ihnp4!houxm!hropus!jin
The Master Baker
Ron Rizzo
(to connect weird AIDS with normal heterosexuality) has taken
refuge in "spurious correlation." The geography of African
AIDS is probably coterminous with other blood vectors as well,
ie, presence of human blood in indigenous religious rites, etc.
Medical opinion considers that these vectors may enhance the
epidemic but believes, on the basis of the evidence so far in
hand, that the primary vector for African AIDS has been vaginal
intercourse between female prostitutes and their itinerant male
clients. Anal intercourse is apparently fairly rare in such
encounters (they've interviewed prostitutes and clients).
Recently, some US doctors announced the first corroborated
case of vaginal transmission of AIDS in this country.
Ron Rizzo
Kitteredge
> was cross posted there and I consider it my duty as an AIDS volunteer
> to educate...
>
> This quote is taken without permission from the 15 Feb 1986 issue of
> Science News (page 101):
>
> "Anthropologist Uli Linke of the University of California at Berkely
> suggests in the Jan. 17 _Science_ that the practice of clitorodectomy
> may provide an explaination [of the heterosexual transmission of AIDS
> in Africa].
> After some types of clitorodectomy, vaginal intercourse can cause
> bleeding, and anal intercourse is often substituted. Either practice,
> notes Linke, could encourage spread of the virus."
>
> I intend to read the original article or letter shortly and will post
> any additional info to net.med and net.motss. Incidently, what does
> motss mean or stand for?
>
> Jerry I Natowitz
Thanks for this article; it is fascinating, if only preliminary
hypothesis. I have often wondered how women could pass on AIDS during
sex, if it is true that the virus is found in large quantities in
semen and blood.
Motss stands for "Members of the Same Sex."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
John Thomas Kittredge
JB
I quote below an excerpt from an article entitled "Prostitutes: victims
or scapegoats of the AIDS crisis?" which appeared in the February 20,
1985 issue of _Windy_City_Times_-_Chicago's_Gay_And_Lesbian_Newsweekly_
(reprinted without permission):
Male to male transmission of AIDS is well documented and because
of this male prostitutes are a proven high-risk group. However,
the jury is still out on female prostitutes. Female to male
transmission of AIDS is not so well documented. A recent medical
study reported in the _American_Journal_of_Medicine_ said female
to male transmission of the disease is unlikely and not much of a
risk. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said of approxi-
mately 16,000 AIDS cases, only one percent are heterosexual. That
amounts to about 160 people. The CDC also said that of the 160
cases, 90 percent are women who have contracted AIDS from men.
Only 20 men, said the CDC, have contracted AIDS from women, and of
these 20 cases only one case is thought to have been from a female
prostitute to a client.
Out of 16 *thousand* cases of AIDS in America, only *20* are confirmed
transmissions from female to male. If experts in Africa have good
reason to believe "that the primary vector for African AIDS has been
vaginal intercourse between female prostitutes and their itinerant male
clients", then clearly something is seriously different between there
and here. And the various mutilation practices and bloody religious
ceremonies sound worth investigating.
--
--JB ((Just) Beth Christy, U. of Chicago, ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!beth)
Sylvia says `A real lady never asks: "Was *what* good for me?".
("I'm sorry - I wasn't paying attention.")'
Craig Werner
> was cross posted there and I consider it my duty as an AIDS volunteer
> to educate...
their virginity surgically restored after each client. How this could migrate
into a discussion on AIDS transmission in Africa is just one of those
phenomenons of the USENET ...
--
Craig Werner
!philabs!aecom!werner
I'll also entertain gifts,knick-knacks,offers of money, & proposals of marriage
Bob Bickford
>
> Motss stands for "Members of the Same Sex."
>
>
> John Thomas Kittredge
Funny, I was under the distinct impression that it stood for
"More Of The Same Shit"
:-) :-)
Robert Bickford (r...@well.uucp)
================================================
| I doubt if these are even my own opinions. |
================================================
--
Robert Bickford (r...@well.uucp)
================================================
| I doubt if these are even my own opinions. |
================================================
Ed Turner
A different and more alarming speculation for the widespread heterosexual
occurence of AIDS in Africa (and Hatti) with a similar frequency among
men and women is a possible insect vector, perhaps some species of
mosquito. This was mentioned in a fairly recent issue of SCIENCE. I
think it was also put forward to explain a geographically and temporally
concentrated group of AIDS cases in a small Florida town in a swampy area.
It certainly sounds plausable to my inexpert ears. Does anyone know
any more about this?
Ed Turner
astrovax!elt
Sam Vause
>> Motss stands for "Members of the Same Sex."
>> John Thomas Kittredge
> Funny, I was under the distinct impression that it stood for
> "More Of The Same Shit"
> :-) :-)
> Robert Bickford (r...@well.uucp)
Despite the dual smiley-faces, I still can't begin to fathom the humour.
Perhaps this form of humour (sic) belongs elsewhere. Perhaps nowhere.
--
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Sam Vause, NCR Corporation, TOWER Systems Development, 3325 Platt |
|Springs Road, West Columbia, SC 29169 (803) 791-6281 |
| ...!decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!vause |
| ...!ihnp4!leopard!ncrcae!vause |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Roger Klorese
><BUG?!>
>
>>
>> Motss stands for "Members of the Same Sex."
>>
>>
>> John Thomas Kittredge
>
>
> Funny, I was under the distinct impression that it stood for
>
> "More Of The Same Shit"
>
> :-) :-)
>
>
> Robert Bickford (r...@well.uucp)
>================================================
>| I doubt if these are even my own opinions. |
>================================================
Well, let's certainly HOPE not...
--
*** Speak for the company? Naaaah, it's hard enough speaking for ME! ***
... "What were you expecting, rock'n'roll?"
Roger B.A. Klorese
Celerity Computing, 40 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701, (617) 872-1772
UUCP: seismo!harvard!bu-cs!celtics!roger, ucbvax!sdcsvax!celerity!celtics!roger
ARPA: bu-cs!celtics!ro...@harvard.ARPA, celerity!celtics!ro...@sdcsvax.ARPA
Ron Rizzo
Or the apparent lack of female-to-male sexual transmission of AIDS in
the US may simply be an effect of the virus' long latency and the
particular American subpopulations (gay males, IV drug users) that
AIDS has first reached. Not long ago, some medical opinion doubted
that male-to-female sexual transmission of AIDS was possible or
very likely.
If semen is a vector, then the (visible) presence of blood isn't
required for transmission. Many sexual encounters cause some physical
trauma to tissue, & perhaps (microscopic) hemmorhaging. The trans-
mission condition for most STDs is contact of mucose membranes.
I don't think many cultures in the rain forests or rift valleys of
central Africa, the possible origin point of AIDS, practice
cliterodectomy.
I still think that anthropologist Uli Linke's conjecture says more
about the psychology (anthropology?) of nervous Western populations
facing AIDS than it does about the disease itself.
Regards,
Ron Rizzo
pam pincha
I just ran across a letter in Science concering theoriginal
letter by Linke (Science,Jan.17,1986). The refuting letter by
Mike Burton (Dept.Anthro.,Univ.ofCal.,Irvine 92717) is in
Science,Mar.14,1986,vol.231,p.1236. I'm posting the letter
for the information of those interested in the speculations
this message has generated. At this point, those not interested
should use the old "n" key.
---------------------------------------------------------------
AIDS AND FEMALE CIRCUMCISION
" Uli Linke's letter (17 Jan.,p.203) about AIDS in
Africa suggests that contact with blood during intercourse
may be an indirect consequence of the African practice of
female circumcision. It then describes an extreme and rare form
of female circumscription -- infibulation. Infibulation is
found only in a part of northeastern Africa (1), outside the
region where AIDS has been reported,and is very different in
its social and biological effects from the kind of female
circumcision that is practiced more widely in Africa.
A secondary problem with the logic of hypothesizing
that AIDS is transmitted by traditional custom is that
in Africa it appears to be primarily an urban disease, as
it is in the United States. Traditional customs, such as
female circumcision, have their origins in the rural sector.
I think it would be more productive to look at data pertaining
to life in African cities and to examine such phenomena
as male labor migration, often described as being disurptive to
marriage and family life."
References:
(1) Hayes,R.O.,1975,American Enthnology,vol.2,p.617.
----------------------------------------------------------------
My personal feeling is that Burton's recomendation for
study is more viable. Linke's hypothesis is too tenuous
for my way of thinking.
P.M.Pincha-Wagener