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GrandpaLash -> RE: With the rampant spread of disease .... (2/14/2005 5:33:03 PM)
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Overnight (for me), what an interesting set of posts, and I will tackle the relevant ones now.
Fist, Miz Suz with ' Informed choice coupled with personal responsibility is the thing, don't you agree? ' Absolutely do agree, which is why absolute openness and honesty are crucial, and why, if I have any doubts about a partner I use condoms. But like her, I choose to take what I see as minimal risks, because what sort of life is it if you don't? I'd like to ask those who are non risk-takers in this context, especially the men: can we assume that you have either given up getting blow jobs (to protect your partners), or have you actually found some way to enjoy it while wearing a condom? And I suppose the same must apply to those women who enjoy swallowing semen - have you given it up for the duration? Not this little black duck. Which is why I don't sleep with total strangers (haven't for 30 years), and spend a lot of time discussing these issues with any prospective partner/sub.
happypervert, thank you for taking the time to research those figures, which back up my contention. It must be said that the proportion of gays sufferers has dropped dramatically for 15 years ago, but it is still clear that heterosexual non drug-users are still at minimal risk.
Nati, respect is a good term for what we must do, and I do hope that what I have said on this thread does not represent disrespect of the possibilities. Of course one must take care - like checking the pool out for rocks and logs before diving into it. But my point is, at least with the STD issue, that if you are avoiding high risk categories and not being ferociously promiscuous, then you are substantively safe from the killer diseases. The others I will come back to in a minute.
onceburned, good points. But I hope I am not stereotyping the US black population in suggesting, as I did in an earlier post, that the high incidence of AIDS (and no doubt other STDS) in black populations (as with our much smaller pool of indigenous Australians) has a lot to do with the low socio-economic status (including poor health care and even poorer education opportunities) forced on them by white society and the heavy drug culture that appears to be so concentrated in black areas. I notice also in that post that you exclude Hispanic women in your comparison, and from what a Hispanic friend of mine in LA tells me, their socio-economic status isn't a lot different from the blacks'.
A sidetrack for a second: I am politically incorrect in using the term black, but as a part black Australian, I refuse to continue typing the PC versions. No, that's bullshit, I simply loathe political correctness, and prefer to be judged on the tenor of my posts, not the language. Of course that gets me in trouble with people who don't actually read my posts and knee-jerk to the PC content.
Back to the subject. Darth, you say you tested clean for herpes. I wonder, which test exactly did you take, because my doctor tells me the only reliable test is to test a swab from the sores, at which point it's all a bit academic. If there is a better way, I for one wouldn't mind knowing.
Molecular has made two posts to this thread, both to the point. Wrapping it up really is more form than substance with a lot of these diseases.
proudsub, I have no doubt that some Doms and subs have infected one another with various STDs, most of which are infinitely easier to transmit than HIV. But then, Doms and subs are human beings like the rest of the population, so that's hardly surprising. But many of the viral STDS mentioned here are virtually pandemic, and if we were to attempt to avoid contact with anyone with these viruses we would have to live a very lonely life in most cases. Or wear containment suits LOL. Like Miz Suz, I prefer to balance the risks against the gains, and since almost all of them seem to be more prerequisites for other things (like cervical cancer) and don't have a lot more than nuisance value otherwise in the vast majority of cases, and since the very sensible practice for women to have regular pap smears (because after all, many of these can be contracted without sexual contact anyway) can catch the dangerous ramifications very early, I see this as a justifiable risk. As long as everybody involved is aware of and has chosen to accept the risk, then go for it.
Of course there are more dangerous ones. Don't get me started on the subject of iatrogenic disease (diseases caused by health care, like staph in hospitals or antibiotic-resistant STDs) or the incredibly stupid use of antibiotics in food production, or we'll be here for another 10 days. But that's where the honesty and openness come into play, and being careful with one's choice of partners.
And finally, onceburned again. For the HIV to have been transmitted it had to have been present in the first place, and I can't imagine a more high risk activity than playing with an HIV diagnosed person, whatever protection one might use. So no, it doesn't fit my criteria.
Grandpa Lash
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