Living With The Tiger

[elephantspike]

Has anyone heard of this film? It's about a Children's A.I.D.S. Hospice, like Baan Gerda http://www.baangerda.org/

[youtube:38sia6ph]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPePjaU8bN4[/youtube:38sia6ph]

[pong]

YUes I've heard of it-and seen it. Tis home has been adopted by a group of Dutch travel agencies/tourist guides and gets visited and presented with donations in cash and kind a few times a year.
There must be some 100+ of these places sprerad out all over Thailand-but mostly in the north.

[Beachlover]

Heartbreaking stuff, kids being born with AIDS. I wonder if, with the drugs available these days they can live to a substantial age like 40 or more.

Heartbreaking stuff, kids being born with AIDS. I wonder if, with the drugs available these days they can live to a substantial age like 40 or more.

In the western world yes in all probability they would live into old age, but in Thailand especially not having much individual wealth then maybe not. Thank God there are such organisations such as this one which help these little kids. Medications have come a long way so one never knows what is down the road to help them live a normal life span.

Why is it any more shocking than kids born with other potentially fatal congential illnesses - cystic fibrosis for example?

[DCbob]

Thanks, I just sent some money.
Very heart rending.

[Beachlover]

Why is it any more shocking than kids born with other potentially fatal congential illnesses - cystic fibrosis for example?
It's not. It's just as heartbreaking as other conditions...


In the western world yes in all probability they would live into old age, but in Thailand especially not having much individual wealth then maybe not. Thank God there are such organisations such as this one which help these little kids. Medications have come a long way so one never knows what is down the road to help them live a normal life span. Yeah true... you never know when they'll find that cure. I have a friend born with a fatal viral disease. It's such a shame as she is gorgeous looking and very successful, has everything going for her, but probably won't make it past middle age and can't have kids.

Yeah true... you never know when they'll find that cure. I have a friend born with a fatal viral disease. It's such a shame as she is gorgeous looking and very successful, has everything going for her, but probably won't make it past middle age and can't have kids.

The AIDS Virus is such a 'smart virus' that it is unlikely that a cure as such will ever be found as the virus hides in various places such as the brain where it is hard to eradicate. The medications available now, and being worked on, do a very good job at holding the amount of HIV cells to a manageable level which keeps the immune system active. One of the long term outlooks is that as medication becomes more widely available the virus will eventually be eradicated with less people infecting others. This of course is a long way away even though the signs are showing positive in some African countries where medication has been available for some time.

As Scotty points out any illness that effects children is heart breaking no matter what it is.

[Beachlover]

Yeah, I guess that's why in 20 years - or however long it's been going - they haven't found a cure yet.

I have a hypothesis (don't know if it's proven anywhere) that one challenge with fighting HIV may be this self-perpetuating dynamic that the more prevalent it is, the more cautious people generally are. The less prevalent it is (e.g. if all the prevention campaigns actually work) the more careless and risk-taking people are likely to be, which of course leads to it becoming more prevalent again. It's a self-perpetuating thing...

It shocks me that anyone out there at all - especially well educated Westerners - would still have any unprotected sex at all in this day and age, but people obviously aren't entirely rational and are willing to take that risk... perhaps more so if they feel the odds are lower.

Anyway, hopefully Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or someone with the means will pump billions into research (if they haven't already) and eventually hit on a cure or at least a vaccine. If not... maybe some day I will :P

I think that the major concern of the World Heath Auth is to try to kerb the spread in the developing world. Some extensive research has already been carried out in Europe that sheds a positive light on the virus not being passed on by people having unprotected sex who are HIV+ but taking medication and having a non detectable viral load of under 30 counts. This is why in some cases a drop in the number of new infections has shown up. Of course this is not the answer, as having unprotected sex is of course very dangerous, but with the Catholic Church etc.. not promoting condom use and the lack of good sex education some countries where there is a strong Catholic following don't abide to what is and can be a life saver.

[Beachlover]

Hey, sorry, but I really couldn't understand what you were trying to say here. Might be a few missed words.

Confusion really starts around here:

sheds a positive light on the virus not being passed on by people having unprotected sex who are HIV+ but taking medication and having a non detectable viral load of under 30 counts.

I've heard some people in Europe have a certain gene, which allows them to keep the virus under control (they're called "supreme controllers" or something). Is it something to do with that?

Hey, sorry, but I really couldn't understand what you were trying to say here. Might be a few missed words.

Confusion really starts around here:

sheds a positive light on the virus not being passed on by people having unprotected sex who are HIV+ but taking medication and having a non detectable viral load of under 30 counts.

I've heard some people in Europe have a certain gene, which allows them to keep the virus under control (they're called "supreme controllers" or something). Is it something to do with that?

HIV medication controls the amount of HIV in the blood which is measured in 'copies' someone who has been on anti viral medication for a certain period of time can reduce the amount of the virus measured in the blood. Once that viral load falls to 40 and below it is classed as undetectable. Researchers in Europe (some) have come to the conclusion that if a persons viral load has been 'undetectable' for a six month period then it is unlikely (but not 100% impossible) for them to pass on the virus through unprotected sex. Obviously the greater the viral load count the greater the risk of infecting another person.

There are a very small percentage of people who are HIV positive but have never shown or developed any symptoms of AIDS related illnesses and even after 10 -20 years after being infected they have a normal immune system. There is a medical name for this, but I can't remember it off hand. The medical profession is still trying to figure out why this is so, and hopes it will help future programs if they can unlock the mystery.

[krobbie]

Why is it any more shocking than kids born with other potentially fatal congential illnesses - cystic fibrosis for example?

My partner's daughter has Cerebral Palsy in her legs and one arm but she is totally gorgeous. She is now eight and is over 30 kgs so her mum cannot carry her for long. They live in Nakhon Si Thammarat in a small fishing village on the coast, where the weather is pretty dismal most of the year. It breaks my heart and Bobey feels it was all his fault for having a baby with his then wife when he he was actually gay and Allah is punishing him. Crazy guy.

Of course no one in Thailand thinks of keeping umbilical cord blood stored for such things, so there isn't much that can be done other than massage and physio.

My gift to Bobey this Christmas (his birthday is Christmas Day) is a small wheelchair. At least his ex wife won't have to carry the little girl everywhere. We will go out to the bus station and watch it being put on the bus and his ex can get it off the bus at Nakhon Si. I am not willing to entrust it to a courier service.

My heart goes out to these children who are treated like pariahs, when they had no choice. Very sad. Unfortunately in Thailand there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding HIV/AIDS. I am still sure that some think they are going to catch it if they are in the vicinity or using the same hong nam or eating from the same bowl after it is washed, let alone hugging or touching. More education of the populace on these matters is imperative.

[Beachlover]

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks, Combat.

So as well as keeping HIV positive people alive for longer, the drugs have the potential to reduce the risk of further transmission by reducing their viral load. In places where they have no access to such drug, they obviously have none of these benefits.

[elephantspike]

I think the main idea is to educate the Thai public that their kids aren't going to get AIDS by simply associating with kids who hare HIV positive.

Further to my earlier post:

http://namlife.org/cms1255059.aspx