Diagnosis


Since June 5, 1981, many definitions have been developed for epidemiological surveillance such as the Bangui definition and the 1994 expanded World Health Organization AIDS case definition. However, clinical staging of patients was not an intended use for these systems as they are neither sensitive, nor specific. In developing countries, the World Health Organization staging system for HIV infection and disease, using clinical and laboratory data, is used and in developed countries, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Classification System is used.

WHO disease staging system for HIV infection and disease

In 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) grouped these infections and conditions together by introducing a staging system for patients infected with HIV-1. An update took place in September 2005. Most of these conditions are opportunistic infections that are easily treatable in healthy people.

* Stage I: HIV infection is asymptomatic and not categorized as AIDS
* Stage II: includes minor mucocutaneous manifestations and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections
* Stage III: includes unexplained chronic diarrhea for longer than a month, severe bacterial infections and pulmonary tuberculosis
* Stage IV: includes toxoplasmosis of the brain, candidiasis of the esophagus, trachea, bronchi or lungs and Kaposi's sarcoma; these diseases are indicators of AIDS.

CDC classification system for HIV infection

In the beginning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not have an official name for the disease, often referring to it by way of the diseases that were associated with it, for example, lymphadenopathy, the disease after which the discoverers of HIV originally named the virus. They also used Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections, the name by which a task force had been set up in 1981. In the general press, the term GRID, which stood for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, had been coined. However, after determining that AIDS was not isolated to the homosexual community,[24] the term GRID became misleading and AIDS was introduced at a meeting in July 1982. By September 1982 the CDC started using the name AIDS, and properly defined the illness. In 1993, the CDC expanded their definition of AIDS to include all HIV positive people with a CD4+ T cell count below 200 per µL of blood or 14% of all lymphocytes. The majority of new AIDS cases in developed countries use either this definition or the pre-1993 CDC definition. The AIDS diagnosis still stands even if, after treatment, the CD4+ T cell count rises to above 200 per µL of blood or other AIDS-defining illnesses are cured.

HIV test

 Many people are unaware that they are infected with HIV. Less than 1% of the sexually active urban population in Africa has been tested, and this proportion is even lower in rural populations. Furthermore, only 0.5% of pregnant women attending urban health facilities are counseled, tested or receive their test results. Again, this proportion is even lower in rural health facilities. Therefore, donor blood and blood products used in medicine and medical research are screened for HIV. Typical HIV tests, including the HIV enzyme immunoassay and the Western blot assay, detect HIV antibodies in serum, plasma, oral fluid, dried blood spot or urine of patients. However, the window period (the time between initial infection and the development of detectable antibodies against the infection) can vary. This is why it can take 3–6 months to seroconvert and test positive. Commercially available tests to detect other HIV antigens, HIV-RNA, and HIV-DNA in order to detect HIV infection prior to the development of detectable antibodies are available.

344 comments:

  1. Well that's all right. Very good blog:) I will subscribe.

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  2. Yea, really nice blog!

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  3. very important information u are disseminating, keep up the good work

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  4. nice post, a lot of good information about AIDS

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  5. I really hope they find a cure for this terrible disease sometime soon...It's killed way too many people already!

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  6. I am on board with this fight, great blog!

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  7. nice post, I won't even ruin it by making a great aids joke...

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  8. I have a friend who was just told he has hiv :/ i feel so bad for him :( Keep up the good work!

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  9. Why in the world would we want to get rid of AIDS

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  10. people need to understand what exactly AIDS is and how it works, we might as well stop infection AND stop the horrible treatment that people with HIV have to endure in our society

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  11. This is very important info, everybody should know this.

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  12. Hopefully we'll find a cure for aids

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  13. Aids, should die!!! Fight for a cure.

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  14. I am ti(RED) of this disease.

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  15. What happened to Magic Johnson? Did he get cured?

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  16. Aids is such a horrible disease!

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  17. I'm sooo supportin' this blog! great!

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  18. fuck AIDS! punch AIDS in its stupid fucking face!

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  19. omg i am so happy that i have no aids and my girlfriend too , i wish all people who are positiv a lot of health and luck!!

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  20. Very informative post, I'm glad to be AIDS free.

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  21. an actually interesting blog. nicely done.

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  22. Very informative mate, keep it up!

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  23. The biggest problem is that everyone knows what it is, but they all think i just can't happen to them.

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  24. You've got a nice blog dude ! And a new follower ;)

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  25. Hmmm good information dude.

    Will have to follow.

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  26. I heard they are in the process of applying for human testing on a new HIV vaccine.

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  27. Great post!

    Visit and submit your blog to: blog-spotter.com

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  28. Its an important topic for you to cover. good luck

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  29. tons of great info round these parts. aids is such a horrible way to control population.

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  30. Aids isn;t as bad as it used to be

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  31. thanks very good post

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  32. Great information, it´s crucial to know these things

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  33. very good initiative man, i support you

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  34. Great post. waiting for more updates

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  35. Awesome info! Keep it up! and NO AIDS! :)

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  36. always using a condom :p just to be sure

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  37. Man, I remember the day I got my test results. Negative, thank God. But I'll NEVER forget the stress. I'm totally down with what you're doing here.

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  38. i will support you!!!!

    great blog

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  39. stay positive -- you have my support

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  40. good lord, such a terrible disease. I heard the US military is close to developing an HIV vaccine

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  41. scary stuff that only 1% of sexually active African Public has been tested.

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  42. Wow, lots of stuff I didn't know about AIDS, great info.
    One thing I did know already is that we need to find a cure for this disease fast!

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  43. Just dont change your parters too often, use condoms etc.

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  44. Everybody should be aware about the danger of being HIV+. It's alarming how many people learn about all these facts only once they're infected. Sad story yet this is our reality! Good post.

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  45. great information ..keep up the good work it's important to let people know.

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  46. good information, I'll be sure to watch out and always have a condom in my pocket.

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  47. What a great post, will definetly follow you for some more.

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  48. This is very informative and raises awareness about AIDs.

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  49. aids is definitly one of the key problems of our society it will lead 2 the death of us all

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  50. Well said bro... imma follow you

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  51. I really hope they find a cure for this terrible disease sometime soon.

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  52. invite to http://www.pneumoniablog.blogspot.com
    everything about pneumonia , hiv , alzheimer and many more !

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  53. this is why i don't have sex with spider monkeys

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  54. If we fight fire with fire, can we fight AIDS with AIDS. No wait, fighting fire with fire is stupid.

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  55. use your condoms boys and girls

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  56. Give all the world leaders HIV, see how long it takes to find a cure.

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  57. Wow, nice post, very informative

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  58. Lost a mate to AIDS. Dude loved drunk girls and doing it bareback. Not a good lifestyle choice. :(

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  59. I really hope they find a cure for this terrible disease sometime soon.

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  60. great info you got there!! hope we find some sort of cure for it soon!

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  61. Nice info, I learned a lot I didn't know before.

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  62. Very nice post, I hope it makes people in risk of having HIV go to their doctor and have an AIDS test

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  63. Keep it in mind. this is so important to know...

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  64. really interesting and informative read.


    http://kind-of-informational.blogspot.com/

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  65. nice info!
    anyways, cool blog, i'll follow and support!

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  66. Nice post man interesting read ty

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  67. GREAT read. thank you and good luck. Btw is this Polish?;) powodzenia

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  68. It's very well written, I have to add. Just read it again after bookmarking this site a while ago.

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  69. As someone who is deeply affected by this I commend you for spreading this around. I cant tell you how much I wish more people read this, honestly.

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  70. The information here is not only great and informative, but important.

    I think we're closer to a cure, in orders of magnitude, than people think.

    Dr. Philip Thorpe out of UT Southwestern has developed Bavituximab, a drug that can hold down viruses long enough to zap them. They are doing clinical trials for people afflicted with Hepatitis C, but will start clinical trials for HSV 2 I'm sure.

    If we can figure out how to cure 1 virus, the snowball effect that will have on curing other viruses is uncanny. Obviously, we're years off, but it's good to see medicine trying to move in the right direction.

    Great post!

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  71. Magic Johnson injects money into himself to fight his AIDS!

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  72. haha fiain I wish that would work xD no one would have aids :(

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  73. AID's is terrible fight the good fight

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  74. nice post, a lot of good information about AIDS

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  75. Really good information here, will follow

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  76. nice,, Thanks for the info. following now

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  77. I guess I know where to come if I ever get aids...

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  78. great post, lots of good info that people need to know.

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  79. Wow, AIDS just sucks. Think we are along way from a cure aswell...

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  80. your blog is simply heroic and nothing short of amazing. Definitely love this

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  81. I support your cause man. Keep being awesome.

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  82. Funny fact: They want us to believe that humans got AIDS from f*cking the apes

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  83. nah man its cool. I heard from this thugish kid at my school. AIDS is cured by having sex with virgins. especially babies or young children. I think its sick myself.
    Will be supporting the cause.
    Help support me support you, check out my blogs sometime.

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  84. Great work man, a really nice read

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  85. Hopefully 1 day they will find a cure.

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  86. Great post, thanks for the info!

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  87. I know that AIDS is terrible, but if we really find a cure wouldn't the earth become overpopulated very fast? don't get me wrong but just think...

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  88. Very informative. Thanks for the post. Go visit my blog at whowantsrants.blogspot.com

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  89. Informative post on aids. Thanx a lot.

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  90. Im scared of dying but you this blog is really informative. I'm following!

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  91. Thanks for the info. Man this is really scary..

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  92. Good information here. Keep it up :)

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  93. Aids is such a horrible thing to live with. :(

    I'm all for this blog man. Keep up the good work, and fight the good fight!

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  94. I think there should be more programs that incentivilize assisting AIDS research and support, that there are for weapons research, cosmetics, televisions, etc. Too much time and resource shot down the drain in the name of consumerism.

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  95. wow great post and blog - following

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  96. good info. lets all fight aids together

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  97. We realy need to implement the anti-rape condom in Africa. Is really ridiculous!

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  98. Thanks for the info!
    Defeat the Aids!!!

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  99. Great post, lots of info for misinformed people, keep it up

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  100. Nice blog,I recently did my Hiv test.
    And its a good feeling(I stay in South Africa Aids hostspot here)

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  101. This blog is great, well writen and a lot of info. Keep up the good work!

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  102. Yeah my buddy is going to live in Africa for two years for the peace core, im scared about this

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  103. I hope they find a cure to this.

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  104. I hope there will be a definite cure soon. Fight on anyone who has it! Great blog, following.

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  105. Very informative, good read there. There is lots of research looking for a cure but education is just as important. People need to understand what it is, how it works, how it is passed on, etc. You'd think in this day and age everyone gets it but then there's people like my in-laws who freak because me and the gf have gay friends and "they have aids (because they are gay)" or "you can get aids from them! JUST FROM STARING!".

    >:3

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  106. Atleast this disease keeps the african population at bay.

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  107. A recent friend of mine is awaiting results to test for HIV, so I'll definitely be referring this blog to him.

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  108. thanks for the info, a lot of stuff i didn't know.

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  109. I like the idea I heard once: Give every world leader aids and watch as it's cured in a day.

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  110. People need to be more informed about thiis subject

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  111. I really like the idea of your blog! Exciting blog post. It gave me a lot of new information.

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  112. spreading this information, thanks for the post

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  113. A lot of good information here for sure

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  114. aids is a horrible thing, information about it is needed, keep it up

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  115. This blog has such a great purpose. I'll give all I can.

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  116. Good info, we all fight aids together!

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  117. Great information, god I hope I don't have aids.

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  118. Wow, very nice ! I liiiiike this! Thanks ! :-)

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  119. informative...good luck stopping AIDS

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  120. Very informative, many thank. Rasing awarenes is always good.

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  121. I applaud the cause. Keep the nice work up!

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  122. Hope you and they can find a cure!

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  123. As part of the gay and lesbian community I wish you all the best in the fight against AIDS.

    God speed!

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  124. Good blog post! Following you and hope that we can fight aids!

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  125. My uncle Stevie has HIV that he caught via blood transfusion back in the 1980's. Can't believe he's still with us and still fighting strong. Thanks for the article, it makes for an interesting read.

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  126. Very interesting read, keep it up!

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  127. If AIDS became airborne then we'd be screwed.

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  128. I wish all people who are positiv a lot of health and luck!

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  129. Hey, I think your blogs supports a very important cause.

    Will follow!

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  130. Such a shame that we even have to deal with such a horrible disease

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  131. holy shit, great layout, great blog, great everything!

    and yes, it's too bad that aids continues and the government neglects it. Let's get obama infected and watch a cure come around in a week lol...

    anyways, here's my blog if you're interested,
    http://lifeofbaron.blogspot.com

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  132. Nice blog my friend, and especially your subject! keep it going!

    Witte

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  133. im on board, very nice blog, good subject

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  134. Honestly if the higher ups were infected with half of these uncurables I expect they would be cured a lot sooner.

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  135. It's amazing how much I didn't know.

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  136. Nice post, man. Should definitely be working harder on curing this.

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  137. An amazing blog with amazing posts for an amazing cause. I wish more people blogged with reason!

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  138. Amazing blog and i hope they one day find a cure.

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  139. nano technologi will give us answer i hope

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  140. Great post, great cause. I hope that a HIV vaccine is made as soon as possible.

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  141. I hope I never really need to know this much about aids.

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  142. fight aids! i like the purpose of your blog

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  143. Great post! Aids is one of those things that everybody knows about. But very few people really understand it or do anything about it. unfortunately there is little profit in a cure, but lots in a prolonging and treating the disease, just enough to keep people coming back for more. Sorry about the rant.

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