Is HIV/AIDs worse than Polio was back in the 1930's - 40s?
357632
Interesting question! Good for you! Polio spreads from contact, insect vectors, probably like a cold does. It is relatively contagious, and causes some very serious, life threatening symptoms. The virus invades the myalin sheaths that surround the nerves, rendering the nerves useless..cannot get electrical signals thru...If the lung nerves are involve, cannot breath without an aparatus. Causes paralysis of limbs, etc...one nasty disease. We have had vaccine for this since the 50's, but people have become lax about the vaccine and polio is popping its ugly head up again. \nHIV is spread through intimate contact and exchange of body fluids (not spit..so kiss to your heart's content), causes mild flu-like symptoms, then 'goes to sleep' with no sypmtoms while it sets itself up in the T cells of the body. Sooner or later, the virus bomb goes off and destroys the immune system. People die of illnesses such as pneumonia, cancers, cytomegalo, etc. because their immune system cannot fight off disease. IT is never good news to find you have either disease, but with polio, most people had a mild case, recovered just fine. HIV...no one recovers. Only with constant medication can life be extended, and even then, there is plenty of reason to believe that eventually, the virus will become resistant to the meds, bloom, and then death. The biggest difference is mode of transmission..we ALL know how NOT to get HIV/AIDS! That the disease is still climbing in numbers is so stupid. Either people think it can't happen to them, or they are just plain retarded. A simple thing like a condome can prevent transmission of HIV. With Polio, there is no guarantee that you won't catch it..just by being in the area of an infected person who doesn't even know they have it. Differences...yes. But both are nasty infections with potentially deadly results.
860305
I believe it has something to do with the fact that, viruses such as pneumonia affect  the older (and very young) moreso than an adult in his/her prime because the immune system is weakened.  Either by age or because it is premature (as in with children)  As you grow older, your body weakens and is once again more susceptible to disease/sickness.
522329
The reason for the spread of HIV, where ever a person might live, is pretty much the people's own actions.  With the info we have now, barring blood transfusions (and even then rare since blood is tested) and freaky things like a maniac poking someone with an infected needle, the disease is almost 100% preventable. It is quite simple.  Don't hop into bed with everyone you see.  Don't do intravenous drugs.  How hard is that?
99109
Well yeah, neither is really desirable.  But AIDS is fatal... and pregnancy?  Temporary.  So I'd go with pregnancy, myself.
929431
Actually the virus has its origins in Africa. In the 1950s when the African government with the aid of the united nations began vaccinations for polio. HIV was introduced to the people in the vaccine. The polio vaccine was grown using Rhesus and Simian monkey which has a very similar viral infection. In fact they are cousins or genetically related. The vaccines for polio were contaminated with the HIV virus. There is a good book that talks about this occurrence called "The River". It was titled this because it was along this route that the virus spread and the polio vaccine was implemented. This may be a coincidence but some people think it was done on purpose. I think it was a medical mistake.
581888
This question is ridiculous. AIDS is not only an epidemic, it is a pandemic, and it is most certainly something to be scared of.\n\nThe HIV/AIDS virus is only transmissable through bodily fluids; blood and semen. For this reason, it is most commonly found in gay men and drug abusers. Gay men have anal sex, which usually results in some anal bleeding. When one man ejaculates, the semen can infect the open wounds from which the blood is emitting. This however, it not only seen in gay men, it is also a risk to women who have anal sex with an infected male. Transmission is no different.\n\nIn terms of transmission among drug abusers, this refers to drugs such as heroine which is taken with a needle. Drug abusers arent known for their cleanliness in this matter and  usually use needles which have already been used before. When the needle is used to inject someone with AIDS, it picks up the virus from their blood, when this needle is reused, the person who injects themself will most probably recieve the disease by introducing the infected blood of the first person into their own body.\n\nNo self respecting scientist...or educated person for that matter...would deny that AIDS is caused by a virus. It is a retrovirus and has been extensively studied. It cannot target any specific group of people. Those people are just more susceptible to it through unprotected anal sex and drug abuse with needles.\n\nIt is also very common for people who had blood transfusions in the late 70's and early 80's to have contracted the virus. This is because at that time there were far less restrictions on who could or could not give blood; also, not enough was known about the virus to test blood donors for the disease.\n\nI'm sorry to tell you that the AIDS in africa is the same AIDS we have here, in fact, 50% of the South African army is infected with the HIV virus. There have been more deaths in Africa due to AIDS than there have been deaths by malaria. It is more common in africa due to their lack of contraception, and their significantly less sanitary and deprived medical centers.
142473
Polio is a virus known as Poliomyelitis it can cause paralysis. Symptoms are vomiting, fatigue, headache, pain and stiff ness. The vaccine which was discoverd by Jonas Salk was released in 1954 putting an end to the polio epidemic. Check your vaccine records because you probably recieved it as a baby.
53009
Let's look at the facts...\n\nIn 2003, the estimated number of deaths of persons with AIDS (in the U.S.) was 18,017, including 17,934 adults and adolescents, and 83 children under age 13.\n\nAlthough avian influenza A viruses usually do not infect humans, more than 100 confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza viruses have been reported since 1997.\n\nThat's over 18,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2003 alone and only about 100 confirmed cases, not deaths, of "bird flu" since 1997.  In addition, though people may live longer with HIV/AIDS than with the bird flu, 100% of people with AIDS die from it, and the bird flu is not that deadly.  Moreover, the U.S. gov't is getting closer and closer to finding a vaccine for the bird flu.  Obviously, AIDS is more threatening to the world than the bird flu is.  If the bird flu were more airborne like normal flu, it might be more threatening, but still not even close to AIDS.  The only reason why people are scared is that the media and gov't have done a good job of scaring us about bird flu, when what they should be doing is devoting themselves to scaring people about AIDS so people take more precautions not to get it or pass it on!\n\nNote:  The fact that the other two people who have responded to this question feel that bird flu is more threatening PROVES that there isn't enough fear of HIV/AIDS.\n\nAnd by the way, it's much easier to get HIV than bird flu.
336811
YES.  diseases are becoming bigger and badder as we get older.  even if you were imunized as a child, a different strand could be out there and you could get it.  sad but true.  same with chicken pox.
837756
HIV used to be a death sentance. But treatment is much improved.\n\nhttp://www.webmd.com/content/article/5/1680_50172.htm
80670
It seems that there is a lot of misinformation going around this site regarding AIDS and HIV. I have AIDS but I am far from being a "victim". As far as surviving, yes I am doing quite well on the regimen that my doctor gave me. I take a few pills, and thats pretty much it. I get colds just like everybody else but I am not on deaths door as some may think. Having HIV isn't the best thing in the world but it certainly isn't a death sentence either. My suggestion to you is to check out AIDSmeds.com or thebody.com and get concrete information there and not rely on your fellow peers on yahoo.
347224
Here is a good site for statistics. It says that the population growth has been diminished to nearly ZERO, because of AIDS related deaths. \nhttp://www.prcdc.org/summaries/aidsinafrica/aidsinafrica.html
726519
Interesting article in the paper today... It made page 1 of the Kansas City Star.\n\nApparently, casual sex is not as big a factor in getting STDs as poverty or lack of education, according to a British report. They gathered statistical data from 59 countries for the report.\n\nIt seems that the only people really at high risk for death-by-sex are people who are too poor or too stupid to buy condoms. \n\nDarwinism in action...\n-SD-
910248
As Alabama Girl says above, the only case was David Acer. Unfortunately he died of AIDS before the cause of transmission could be truly established. However, considering how difficult it is to transmit HIV from dentist to patient, and considering that (as I remember) a couple of the patients were having negligible treatment. it has been hypothesised that he deliberately infected them. Sort of a revenge on the world. There was a book written about it (don't know the name).
826801
Only in that children are already more susceptable to illnesses due to less mature immune systems already. Children with HIV are usually born with it, therefore are probably already suffering from the symptoms
183131
Polio (also called poliomyelitis) is a contagious, historically devastating disease that was virtually eliminated from the Western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century. Although polio has plagued humans since ancient times, its most extensive outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s before the vaccination, created by Jonas Salk, became widely available in 1955. \n\nAt the height of the polio epidemic in 1952, nearly 60,000 cases with more than 3,000 deaths were reported in the United States alone. However, with widespread vaccination, wild-type polio, or polio occurring through natural infection, was eliminated from the United States by 1979 and the Western hemisphere by 1991.\n\nSigns and Symptoms\nPolio is a viral illness that, in about 95% of cases, actually produces no symptoms at all (called asymptomatic polio). In the 4% to 8% of cases in which there are symptoms (called symptomatic polio), the illness appears in three forms:\n\na mild form called abortive polio (most people with this form of polio may not even suspect they have it because their sickness is limited to mild flu-like symptoms such as mild upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, and a general feeling of being ill) \na more serious form associated with aseptic meningitis called nonparalytic polio (1% to 5% show neurological symptoms such as sensitivity to light and neck stiffness) \na severe, debilitating form called paralytic polio (this occurs in 0.1% to 2% of cases) \nPeople who have abortive polio or nonparalytic polio usually make a full recovery. However, paralytic polio, as its name implies, causes muscle paralysis - and can even result in death. In paralytic polio, the virus leaves the intestinal tract and enters the bloodstream, attacking the nerves (in abortive or asymptomatic polio, the virus usually just stays in the intestinal tract). The virus may affect the nerves governing the muscles in the limbs and the muscles necessary for breathing, causing respiratory difficulty and paralysis of the arms and legs.\n\nContagiousness\nPolio is transmitted primarily through the ingestion of material contaminated with the virus found in stool (poop). Not washing hands after using the bathroom and drinking contaminated water were common culprits in the transmission of the disease. \n\nPrevention\nIn the United States, it's currently recommended that children have four doses of inactivated polio vaccination (IPV) between the ages of 2 months and 6 years. \n\nBy 1964, the oral polio vaccine (OPV), developed by Albert Sabin, had become the recommended vaccine. OPV allowed large populations to be immunized because it was easy to administer, and it provided "contact" immunization, which means that an unimmunized person who came in contact with a recently immunized child might become immune, too. The problem with OPV was that, in very rare cases, paralytic polio could develop either in immunized children or in those who came in contact with them. \n\nSince 1979 (when wild polio was eliminated in the United States), the approximately 10 cases per year of polio seen in this country were traced to OPV.\n\nIPV is a vaccine that stimulates the immune system of the body (through production of antibodies) to fight the virus if it comes in contact with it. IPV cannot cause polio.\n\nIn an effort to eradicate all polio, including those cases associated with the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to make IPV the only vaccine given in the United States. Currently, the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend three spaced doses of IPV given before the age of 18 months, and an IPV booster given between the ages of 4 to 6, when children are entering school. \n\nIf you're planning to travel outside the United States, particularly to Africa and Asia (where polio still exists), be sure that you and your child receive a complete set of polio vaccinations.\n\nDuration\nAlthough
681674
My answer was inacurate, the two answers following however quoted an excellent article. To save others the effort I will put the link in here. This article does an excellent job explaining the origions of HIV and the few places I have checked to verify the information contained in the article have checked out.