@fancydude:
How would a porn star know he got HIV from being a rent boy when almost no one in porn is tested?
Granted, the series I mentioned in the post above, most of them admitted to being rent boys, due to the whole "no royalties" thing and porn doesn't pay enough to live. But I really wonder HOW one would know for sure who passed on the HIV??? If a person has sex with 10 people (seemingly low in the Gay community) and I have sex with him, I've had sex with 11 people; in turn if I've had sex with 10 people, the first person mentioned has had sex with 20 people. or whatever the exponential math is. Again, how would you know who is responsible?
According to Dr. Chris Steingart M.D. (Registered HIV Specialist) there are two different types of tests that are run to determine the exact strain of the virus. The first is known as a Western Blot. This test breaks the virus down into one of two categories. There is what is referred to as "Type 1"[nb]Type 1 HIV is generally more docile by comparison, however it does have varying degrees of severity, depending on the person's body chemistry and immune system.[/nb], which is more commonly found within North America, more particularly (but not necessarily exclusive to) gay men. There is also what is referred to as "Type 2"[nb]Type 2 tends to be a little more aggressive than Type 1, which makes for a particularly nasty threat if a person with Type 1 should become co-infected with Type 2 or vice versa.[/nb], which is more commonly found within African and Caribbean Communities[nb]The #1 problem that still lies with African and Caribbean communities is the availability of the drugs. In countries like Kenya, the question is more "Who doesn't have HIV?". In those countries, they are currently living in the days of the 80's in North America. In fact, AIDS related deaths account for 87.8% of death that occur in that region.[/nb]. The second test is referred to as a "Ginotype" test. This test breaks down the DNA strands of the HIV virus itself after it has bombarded the CD4 cell to determine its genetic makeup. This allows for the lab technician to be able to determine certain properties of the virus such as its origin, drug resistances, aggressiveness of the strain, incubation period for the virus to fuse with the CD4 cell, and a basic fingerprint of the virus itself. A Ginotype test in most cases can accurately predict whether or not the virus came from a particular origin by comparing its DNA. The only problem with this is that the virus does sometimes make "mistakes" when it begins to duplicate its DNA to overpower that of the CD4 cell. This results in a "mutation"[nb]Mutations can also occur if you are HIV positive and you have gone an extended period (generally several days) without your medication, giving the virus a chance to adapt itself to the medication. This problem brings on a whole new world of possible issues when you get into the subject of co-infection[/nb] if you will of the virus, or a slight alteration. In this case, the Ginotype test could verify that it is most likely the source of the virus based on its overall DNA structure, similar to testing a person's DNA to see if they are the parent of a child. The only problem that comes into play when mutation occurs is it leaves a small amount of margin for error, which means it's sometimes not always possible to scientifically prove 100% where the virus was transmitted from.
