Data show a significant uptick in lymphatic tuberculosis in 10-18 year olds in the last 4 years, with 2025 being by far the worst. This is usually a disease associated with AIDS, but there’s been no associated uptick in HIV.
Data show a significant uptick in lymphatic tuberculosis in 10-18 year olds in the last 4 years, with 2025 being by far the worst. This is usually a disease associated with AIDS, but there’s been no associated uptick in HIV.
Quite a few folks. Because of the immune system damage and its tendency to hide in the body long term, there’s been a large cross section of former HIV researchers becoming the go-to for Covid research.
https://www.ajpmfocus.org/article/S2773-0654(25)00146-4/fulltext
Thank you! Very disturbing to see people treat the “airborne AIDS” thing as disrespectful to people dealing with HIV/AIDS, as if they are not also threatened by COVID.
As a person with science training, this comparison is very irresponsible. Two things can both be bad but not be like each other at all. When bad information spreads on social media, it only serves to undermine the work of the researchers.
If we don’t communicate the findings of researchers, isn’t that also undermining it?
Can you provide a more succinct way of explaining that COVID uses the same catastrophic immune evasion and persistence mechanisms and poses a severe risk in the long-term?
To be very picky, I can understand why some people would take an issue with the phrase airborne AIDS. First of all, it would be better to say airborne HIV and there is the implication that AIDS itself is more contagious, but nobody actually believes that in 2025. People understand that HIV is a blood-borne disease, saying that a blood-borne disease is airborne, creates such a terrifying scenario. I don’t think that people are expecting that they’re going to catch AIDS from a sneeze because people are saying that COVID is dangerous. I think this is just being way too fastidious with language.
Imagine someone saying trying to explain Star Wars by saying that Luke Skywalker is like an alien version of Goku. If you have any knowledge at all of the characters or the stories your mind starts compiling a rapidly growing list of why that’s complete nonsense. If you have extremely limited background on the characters though, and what supplemental information you are given is a fundamental mischaracterization of the stories, you would be easily convinced. They’re both dudes in fantasy stories, they both fight, they both have some kind of telekinesis, but the difference is one is from Earth while the other is from a galaxy far far away.
It’s almost impossible to point out all the ways that that is wrong. And then when you’re trying someone says “I don’t know, I saw a video where they talked about Luke Skywalker fighting so I think you’re just being pedantic.” If actual truth matters in any way, you would reject this comparison completely. If it’s popular and you don’t know better or don’t give a shit you’ll latch on to it and maybe even add to it. I know better and I give a shit and I’m saying flatly that it’s wrong.
Can you provide a more succinct way of explaining that COVID uses the same catastrophic immune evasion and persistence mechanisms and poses a severe risk in the long-term?
Yeah I’m with you on this one. I get quite annoyed by downright misinfo being spread.
Likening covid to aids has been irritating as well not because of “respect” but because it’s hard to make certain decisions. How do we treat infection risk? I wear a mask with everyone because covid is provably airborne, but if you call it like AIDS and then cross that with the musings about viral persistence of covid in the body possibly being a cause of long covid (which is either basically proven or still highly speculative depending on what source I’m reading) this leads to question. Does this mean I shouldn’t have sex with someone who’s got long covid lest I contract it too? I can’t find a straight answer and the pool of people who haven’t had covid shrinks every year anyway, but I’m still in it
I don’t think anyone has ever tabled an idea like this anywhere, and I don’t feel this hypothetical is a compelling reason to chide people for raising awareness about the COVID-related findings of literal HIV researchers. Nobody will even take you seriously about long covid in the first place. Pick a lane?
i think the state of new york said to glory hole
When this terrible comparison reaches enough of a critical mass that the scientific community has to actively debunk it, all people will remember is “looks like the scientists were wrong again.”
Debunk what? What’s to debunk? It’s a metaphor.
AIDS and COVID-19 are two diseases separated by a common lymphocytopenia
It’s a misplaced and damaging metaphor because it in no way represents reality. There are lots of other pathogens that cause immune exhaustion and susceptibility to infection in the way that COVID does. HIV is not one of them. We might as well say COVID is airborne cancer. In fact, that comparison is remarkably more accurate than AIDS.
I also usually forget to talk to people like human beings online and come across as aggressive and assholish. I don’t mean to and I don’t mean to imply that any of the stuff I’m going off about is your doing, I’m just trying to vent off excess pressure.
Fair enough. But comrade you are getting worked up over a comparison that has been getting made in popular culture since 2020 and research papers at least since 2022 (probably earlier I just know at least one specific one from 2022 regarding lymphocytopenia.) and yeah we could probably also call it airborne heart attacks or airborne strokes. But people have latched on to the immune dysfunction and people know AIDs so there we are. It’s a metaphor they understand, that gets the point across about how dangerous it is to ignore.
Edit: and it’s still only year 6.
Yeah there’s a reason I deleted all my social media like ten years ago, I get worked up about a lot of things.
I’m struggling to say it succinctly, but all other respiratory viruses can produce these same weird systemic effects sometimes. The focus on COVID should revolve around reducing the spread of all of those viruses as well, and pointing at HIV/AIDS takes people further away from understanding that because it is such a unique and socially loaded disease.
I get ya, and it’d be great if that’s the argument we can be making, but I’m afraid covid is being compared to other respiratory viruses… by the minimizers. We don’t get to pick the battlefield unfortunately. Also, I’d note that given the history of HIV and the establishment’s marginalization of its victims for so long, the parallels do make a compelling case for the phrase airborne aids. Again, we’re only like 6 years in and most of the “in your face” arguments making traction in corporate media are on the immediate sequelae. Who knows what a single infection does ten / fifteen years down the line, let alone the mass majority of folks on their way towards racking up double digit infections.
i have this print on my wall, it really hits and the parallels are definitely there.
I couldn’t disagree more but I understand that you’re not the arbiter of this.
We’ll leave it there then. Take care and be safe.