Re:Gilead Shot Prevents All HIV Cases in Trial of African Women
by rcxdude on Thursday June 20, 2024 @07:00PM
(#40744402)
I don't see any particular reason why retroviruses would be different in that regard: they need the cell they infect to live long enough to produce enough viruses, and it is advantageous to them that some cells they infect lay dormant and reactivate later (a trick not limited to retroviruses), but there's not particular reason why they should not overall act much like any other virus: keeping their host cell alive only long enough to produce enough new viruses to continue to propagate. It's an argument which you could extent to any pathogen: why would any disease kill its host?
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Re:Gilead Shot Prevents All HIV Cases in Trial of African Women
by outworlder on Friday June 21, 2024 @01:18AM
(#40746392)
> It's an argument which you could extent to any pathogen: why would any disease kill its host?
Moreover, why would a disease even 'care' about the host? As long as it can jump hosts quickly, it can afford to kill many of them. If achieving fast transmission is tough on the host, so be it. Other diseases may select for the opposite approach, of course.