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by jennyyang
1965 days ago
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As someone who grew up in the 80s with the fullblown AIDS crisis, this really is a testament to human ingenuity. When we were kids, this sounded like the end of the world: a virus that attacks the immune system itself. It was so terrifying to hear about such a horrible disease that had no cure, and was so insidious that we couldn't even create a vaccine to stop it. In a few decades we as a species have found a way not only to completely eradicate it to undetectable levels (it still hides in cells to protect itself) but now we are at a monthly injection. The way we have created a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is also absolutely incredible. It's great to be alive these days, now if only we can get a firm solution over cancer and other diseases like dementia, etc! |
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I was born in '86. Even into the 90's this line of thinking hadn't changed all that much. The attitude around most diseases and the like that had a 'social' component was best described as "shock and shame" - e.g, you're screwed long-term and society blamed you.
> In a few decades we as a species have found a way not only to completely eradicate it to undetectable levels (it still hides in cells to protect itself) but now we are at a monthly injection.
I was going to ask how this works until you answered the question for me (if it's undetectable, why isn't this considered cured?) Last I heard research is still trying to figure this out. At the same time, I can remember hepatitis C having a similar wrap in the 90's - 'you have it, and probably always will' - Mavyret/Epclusa changed that. It still blows my mind that the problem is pretty much solved at this point.
Hail Science.