> The article did grant that there
>remains the strange puzzle of the coincidence in timing of the various
>strands of AIDS all being transmitted from primates to humans within a
>close period, which I suppose that Hooper will emphasize when backed
>into a corner. The article suggests theories of population increases
>or the introduction of cheap syringes, both of which might explain why
>infection didn't happen earlier.
I'm probably way in over my head here, but I thought that there was still a lot of
controversy over exactly when and where AIDS first emerged in the human population. I
seem to remember hearing it claimed that there were confirmed cases in humans before
the polio vaccination campaign. I thought I've also heard it claimed that the wave of
reports around the time of the vaccine could be explained by a reporting anomaly --
that there was a buzz in the medical community that caused people to recognize what
they were seeing as a single disease whereas before that time the pattern of symptoms
might not have been seen as a unique disease. -- Bill Dickens
William T. Dickens
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 797-6113
FAX: (202) 797-6181
E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AOL IM: wtdickens
