tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42332149134304039.post4655471919854390731..comments2024-01-09T07:00:00.851-05:00Comments on The Spectacled Avenger: An Elegy for "Patient Zero"Jamie Pratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00467349253439645488noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42332149134304039.post-88989502140578386942020-07-17T07:46:10.953-04:002020-07-17T07:46:10.953-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08893509854645610039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42332149134304039.post-77947236118828829702019-10-27T03:10:33.924-04:002019-10-27T03:10:33.924-04:00Excellent piece!
The whole "Patient Zero&q...Excellent piece! <br /><br />The whole "Patient Zero" thing is a distraction: It was a misinterpretation of "Patient O" (as in the letter O) & scientists knew he wasn't the first or only with the disease... but Shilts' book needed a titillating hook to help it sell since much of it is based on medical jargon that the general public isn't that interested in. Hence Typhoid Mary 2.0. <br /><br />Still, Dugas was a sociopath who intentionally spread the disease with no consideration for his sexual partners. This was confirmed in at least 2 interviews with Selma Dritz of the CDC who personally worked with him. While he was cooperative with their study by giving his sexual contacts, he refused to stop going to the baths or having unprotected sex & even said "someone gave it to ME, it's not my responsibility to not pass it on," etc. There were no laws against this behavior at the time because the disease was NEW, but when the world's leading health organization tells you to do something you should probably do it. Denial is no excuse.<br /><br />His ego & sex life were all that mattered to him until the day he died. This was also confirmed by the many angry gay men who literally chased him out of town after he'd slyly slept with a number of them in the dark & then turned up the lights to show off his lesions, telling them "maybe you have gay cancer now too." Again, this comment of his was shared by Dritz; not just Shilts. The clip is on Youtube. <br /><br />Regarding the "junkie pneumonia" thing: <br /> If only health agencies & politicians had given a damn about drug users, this epidemic might not've been mislabeled as GRID & caused unwarranted hatred against gay people. This delay also aided its spread farther & deeper into the population. <br /> <br />The fact that needle exchange & other harm reduction programs are illegal in many states/cities to this day is proof lawmakers still believe addicts' lives are disposable & care nothing about preventing the next epidemic. IMO the role of iatrogenic factors (dirty paid blood donations, reused syringes in African vaccine campaigns in the mid-20th Century, etc) is massively underplayed in the media when discussing the origin & spread of the disease. That's no accident. <br /><br />Sex may be the main cause NOW but something sudden had to help this disease explode into the human population after existing as SIV in chimps & humans in Cameroon & the Congo for hundreds or thousands of years. The serial transmission theory put forth by Jacques Pepin is intriguing to say the least. <br /> Heart of Darkness Theoryhttp://adventuresinpsychonautics.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com