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Author

  • Christine Maggiore

Publisher

  • -

Category

  • Cause of AIDS

Topic

  • Robert Gallo

  • Luc Montagnier

  • Viral Load Reliability

  • PCR test

  • HIV Antibody

Article Type

  • Editorial article

Publish Year

  • 1996

Meta Description

  • Gallo claimed HIV as AIDS' cause, but presented no evidence. His claim was accepted, halting other research. Doubts arose about HIV's role in causing AIDS.

Summary

  • Gallo announced HIV as the probable cause of AIDS without substantial evidence, leading to a halt in research into other possible causes. His data showed he couldn't find HIV in over half of his AIDS patients, raising questions about his hypothesis. Montagnier, who accused Gallo of stealing his HIV sample, stated he doesn't believe HIV alone can cause AIDS. Despite over 100,000 papers published on HIV, none have convincingly demonstrated its role in causing AIDS. The number of HIV positive Americans hasn't increased since the HIV test was introduced in 1985.

Meta Tag

  • HIV

  • AIDS

  • Gallo

  • Montagnier

  • Hypothesis

  • PCR tests

  • Viral load

  • Latency period

  • Antibody test

  • Retrovirus

  • Endogenous

  • Cytotoxic

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Featured Image Alt Tag

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Endogenous: Produced from within; originating within an organ or part.
DNA: The commonly used abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, the principle carrier of genetic information in almost all organisms. DNA controls a cell's activities by specifying and regulating the synthesis of enzymes and other proteins in the cell.
Hypothesis: An unproven assumption tentatively accepted as a basis for further investigation and argument.
Cytotoxic: Able to kill or damage cells. 

Is the Rate of HIV Increasing?

HIV is not on the rise. According to the most recent CDC estimates, the number of HIV positive Americans has not increased once since the HIV test was introduced into general use in 1985.

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While the number of HIV positives has failed to grow, it is important to note that rates of venereal diseases such as chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis have increased throughout most of the AIDS epidemic and far surpass cases of AIDS. These numbers contradict the idea that "safe sex" has prevented HIV from spreading. 

Does HIV Take Years to Cause AIDS?

For more than a decade, scientists throughout the world agreed that HIV had a latency period, a time during which it remained inactive before becoming active and causing immune destruction. The notion of a latency period was used to explain why HIV did not behave like all other infectious, disease-causing microbes that cause illness soon after infection, and why significant quantities of active HIV could not be found in people who test HIV positive.

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Viral loads have been measured in people who are HIV negative and in AIDS patients who test HIV antibody positive but have no HIV. (88) Low levels of viral load have not been correlated with good health, with absence of illness or high T cell counts while high viral loads do not correspond with low T cells or sickness. (89) For more information, please see What's Up with Viral Load? on page 36.

Defined Terms

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): A technique used to detect the presence of minute quantities of genetic material in the blood through replication of DNA or RNA.

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