Just a little something I wrote

I penned this back in 1996 when I was going to school after the Army.









ERIC P. RASPPERRY

ENGLISH 60

MR. GANZE

12 November 1996

AIDS/HI V Infections: Why the histrionics

In an attempt to understand the insanity that surrounds the AIDS/HIV issue, one must understand the politically correct power blocks that are driving the issue and the population subsets that are being infected by this virus. We must also agree on the definitions of a few words in order to preclude any confusion. The first word is “epidemic”. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, epidemic means “spreading rapidly among many people in a community”. The second is the word “pandemic”. This word means “epidemic over a large region”.

Medical research has shown that this virus is very difficult to transmit from one person to another. In the overall US population of 270,000,000 people, the reported number of Infections by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are 513,486 as of 31 December 1995. This number of reported infections can in no stretch of the imagination constitute an epidemic based on the percentage of infections to the total population. By doing the math, I came up with this figure for the percentage of infections: 0.19018% of the total population. This percentage is of no statistical significance. As you can see, this figure is absurdly small compared to the total population. Adult and adolescent cases number 506,538 with 434,719 cases in males, 71,818 cases in females and one case in a person who’s sex in unknown. As of the above stated date, 6,948 AIDS cases were reported in children. “Children” refers to persons under the age of 13 at the time of diagnosis. As of the end of 1995, the total number of deaths attributed to AIDS id 319,849 including 3,921 children.
To understand this fact, one should know the primary means of transmission for the virus. According to the CDC, the largest risk factor in the transmission of the virus is “men who have sex with men”. Homosexual activity accounts for a total of 259,627 reported cases, followed injected drug use with 95,244 male and 33,454 female for a total of 128,696 cases. Homosexual men who also are IV drug users account for another 33,195 cases. AIDS cases in the heterosexual population account for 13,521 male and 26,516 female for a total of 40,037 cases. Persons with Hemophilia or other coagulation disorders account for 3970 male and 137 female, for a total of 4107 cases. Persons who received contaminated blood products or tissue account for 4327 males and 3106 females totaling 7433. Persons whose risk was not reported include 24,790 males and 8,607 females for a total of 33,397 cases.

As you can see from the exposure breakdown, by and far the most hazardous behavior is Homosexuality, followed by IV drug use. The BIG QUESTION is what can be done about this “epidemic”? One answer being shoved down our collective throats is dropping massive amounts of government (read taxpayer) cash into research in the possible hope of a cure. The “Gay Rights” lobby supports this option. On the other end of the spectrum is the “Ultra-Right Wing” religious fanatic who would have any person that tests positive for HIV should be shipped off to a sanitarium for the greater good of the society like the TB sanitariums of the late 19th century. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

To make assumptions on the spread of this infectious agent based on the demographic break out of infections, it is clear that the infections are based mainly on a person’s behavior. So, modify the behaviors that make the population most at risk, you control the rate of further infections. The “Gay” lobby says distribute condoms to everyone to include elementary school kids. However, this is not a viable option. Condoms are known for a high failure rate particularly when used during anal intercourse. In “normal” use, condoms suffer a failure rate as high as 20%. The failure rate during anal intercourse is as high as 70%. This brings to mind a bumper sticker I saw in a pickup truck in the school parking structure. It read, “A Tiskit, A Taskat, A Condom or a Casket”. In my mind, just the act of keeping your zipper up, and your “tallywacker” in your pants is much more effective in preventing the spread of AIDS or any other STD.