FEAR Over One Man's Death in West Hollywood of Meningitis

FEAR, 1st off who knew that John Duran was a Dr: Read up. (Mayo Clinic on Meningitis)  Before you get more drugs put into your system: FEAR! 
One man died and we run screaming the sky is falling. 
Just like everyone that is DEAD from ACT -UP demanding AZT. 
How about a little bit of history of this man health, etc before we create More FEAR

UPDATE: Great article in the Huffington Post by 

James Peron:

Fear and Misinformation: Meningitis and the LGBT Community

AIDS Healthcare Foundation to offer free

meningitis vaccines starting Monday 

Nick Roman

Beginning Monday, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation will offer meningitis vaccines at three Los Angeles-area locations after the death of a West Hollywood attorney who had recently been exposed to the disease.

Brent Shaad, 33, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Saturday evening after his family gave permission to remove him from life support.

Shaad had appeared healthy less than a week ago, according to West Hollywood Councilman John Duran.

On Monday, he began feeling ill, according to an AP report. He went to an emergency room for care on Wednesday, but his condition deteriorated rapidly. He slipped into a coma on Thursday, and doctors declared him brain dead Friday.

Shaad had attended the White Party in Palm Springs the weekend of March 30th and 31st and was a member of the Equinox gym in West Hollywood, and people who may have had contact with him should consider being checked, said Duran.

The free meningitis vaccines are available from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at AHF pharmacies on Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards and the AHF Hollywood Men's Wellness Center on Vermont Avenue, said AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein.

“While many people, including many gay men, may not have had an exposure or consider themselves at risk, we know that there is a tremendous amount of anxiety out there in the community,” said Weinstein at a news conference Sunday. “We feel that at a minimum, we should offer the vaccine to minimize that anxiety.”

The bacteria that causes meningitis is not as contagious as the common cold, but experts say it can be spread through coughing or kissing. People who contract the illness can suffer from fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion and increased sensitivity to light.

Duran said health officials in the New York area have reported seven deaths from bacterial meningitis this year. He said he understands the fears of some who are afraid that an increase in meningitis outbreak would be labeled as a “gay disease,” as AIDS was in the early 1980s.

But he said the early response then was not strong enough, and that's why a greater response now to meningitis is appropriate.

“What we have learned in our experience with the HIV epidemic is sometimes what happens in New York replicates itself in Los Angeles,” said Duran. “We learned some really painful lessons last time.”

There are two different types of meningitis vaccines: a conjugate vaccine that's given to young people and most adults, and a polysaccharide vaccine for adults older than 55.  The foundation will offer the conjugate vaccine. It requires an initial inoculation, followed by a booster eight weeks later, said Dr. Parveen Kaur, a physician working with the foundation's healthcare centers.

The incubation period for bacterial meningitis is two to seven days, while the vaccine requires about 10 days to provoke an immune response, said Kaur.

Weinstein said the shot costs the foundation $105. It has 10,000 doses available. The foundation will ask for donations or insurance, but it will not turn down anyone who who wants a shot, he said.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) issued a statement after the AIDS Healthcare Foundation announced its vaccination plans.

In the statement, LACDPH said it had been notified on April 9 of a patient with meningococcal meningitis, and that it has begun an investigation that includes identifying contacts with that person.

At this point in the investigation, Public Health has not identified any other cases of meningococcal meningitis associated with this patient, nor identified any linkage between this patient and outbreaks that have been reported in other areas of the country.

Public Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to identify the specific strain of the disease from this patient. The specific strain is expected to be identified in the public health laboratory by the end of next week.

The CDC, CDPH and LACDPH do not recommend a vaccination campaign in response to this one single patient with meningococcal meningitis in Los Angeles. Routine vaccination is recommended for children and teens.  Adult vaccination is recommended for persons with specific medical conditions, laboratory workers exposed to the meningococcal bacteria, and travelers to regions of the world with high rates of meningococcal disease.

Study: HIV linked to greater risk of heart attacks

by Scott Roberts PINK News.co.uk

A study in the US has found people living with HIV are nearly 50% more likely to have a heart attack.

Researchers aren’t sure what explains the higher heart attack rate for those who are HIV positive, but they speculate it’s a combination of the effects of HIV infection and the antiretroviral drugs used to treat it.

“It’s a complicated picture,” said Matthew Freiberg, who led the study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. “We’re still trying to understand the mechanisms.”

Dr Christian Fiala - interviewed in film 'Positively False"

Dr Christian Fiala, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, expresses his deep concern about the mistakes surrounding the infectious hypothesis for HIV/AIDS and in particular the way this has affected the continent of Africa. 

More information at http://positivelyfalsemovie.com and http://immunity.org.uk

Living proof that CFS and HIV-NEGATIVE AIDS are basically the same mysterious immune disorder

by Karen Lambert - ukprogressive.co

I have Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFS/CFIDS/ME) and HIV-NEGATIVE AIDS, idiopathic CD lymphocytopenia. With these two clinical diagnoses, I believe that makes me living proof that the AIDS-like CFS/ME is transmissible, something that the medical establishment seems unable to admit or to acknowledge. I also believe it makes me living proof that CFS and HIV-NEGATIVE AIDS are basically the same mysterious immune disorder.

Three years ago, after a heterosexual sexual encounter, I became seriously ill with what looks like the natural disease progression of AIDS. After an “acute infection” and a “period of asymptomatic
health”, I have fallen extremely ill to an unrelenting, progressively-worsening AIDS-like demise. I can pinpoint exactly when I was infected with my “chronic viral syndrome of unknown etiology”
and because the “acute infection” stage was so distinguishable, I can also pinpoint exactly when my undiagnosed pathogen left my body and infected yet another host.

Whatever I am currently dealing with, it strongly resembles classic textbook HIV/AIDS disease. But, to add to my inquiry, I also clinically satisfy the CDC’s criteria for the diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Increasingly, I have become concerned that my systemic diagnosis is caught up in the treacherous politics of CFS/ME and AIDS. Most people with CFS/ME do not like to talk about the many symptoms and immune abnormalities that they share with AIDS patients. I also suspect that most ailing patients would rather be told that they have the very mysterious CFS than to be told that they have AIDS.

I have a Master’s degree. I am a director at my firm. I used to be a triathlete. I have never used IV drugs. I have never traveled abroad. I can count my sexual partners on two hands. Statistically speaking, I know that my undiagnosed infectious and communicable disease is not rare…so, you tell me, if they are not in the miscellaneous CFS/ME category, where are all these other immunosuppressed people?

Anyone with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, who does not consider the possibility that CFS/ME will eventually progress to a NON-HIV AIDS diagnosis, is very well trumping their own ability to diagnosis the root cause of their illness.

Why isn’t CFS/ME a reportable disease overseen by our public health department? Why are ME and CFS (i.e., the same exact disorder) suspiciously categorized as two separate illnesses on a worldwide level (i.e., by ICD codes)? Doesn’t anyone else but me, very clearly see, the catastrophic cover-up going on here?

Why are we not reading about Non-HIV AIDS cases (and/or the AIDS-like nature of CFS) on the front pages of every newspaper in the world? And if CFS/ME is Non-HIV AIDS, then, depending on who you believe, there are anywhere between 500,000 – 14,000,000 Americans out there with a transmissible illness. If that is what it truly is, our new form of AIDS dwarfs the ‘original’ AIDS epidemic — tenfold!

I want honest answers for myself, for everyone who is suffering from this hideous illness, and especially for those who remain uninfected by my undiagnosed infectious and communicable disease.

As worrisome as my health is to me, I am extremely troubled by the strong likelihood that more people are being infected every minute that Non-HIV AIDS cases (like mine) are allowed to go undetected – especially if it turns out that AIDS and CFIDS/ME are basically the same disorder.

You can label my AIDS-like illness whatever you wish. I would even allow you to call it infectious-CFS, even though it is utterly beyond my realm of comprehension as to how the medical establishment can generically name an entire disease paradigm based on just one (of my numerous) symptom(s).

Regardless of how politics may try to dissuade or delude you, all you need to know is that my idiopathic immune dysfunction is infectious! It is contagious! And it is spreading, unleashed, in the world’s population!

I am not afraid to say that I have AIDS without HIV — idiopathic CD lymphocytopenia — my second official clinical diagnosis. I am equally as unafraid of saying the most obvious thing about CFS/ME: it sure does look like AIDS to me.

We talk openly about preparing for an impending Avian Flu pandemic. Why not talk about the HIV-NEGATIVE AIDS epidemic that already exists (and is spreading) amongst us?

If it takes courage to think and to say the things that I do, I hope that there will be a miraculous outbreak of bravery from coast-to-coast. I stopped fighting for myself a long, long time ago. I
fight for humanity.

I demand a CFS/HIV revolution. Vive La Revolución‏.

To learn more about non-HIV AIDS, and to see the *new* face of AIDS, please visit: CFS Straight Talk

Could I be you?

Karen LambertCFS Straight Talk

Karen Lambert a Master’s degree. She was a director at my firm. She used to be a triathlete. She has never used IV drugs, nor traveled abroad. Shecan count her sexual partners on two hands.

- As originally appeared in LA Progressive Magazine

Sex and the Soul – the Origins of the HIV

by Liam Scheff - reducetheburden.org

If HIV is a hoax (if HIV tests do not test for any particular thing – and they don’t, and you can look that up), and “infection” is based on this non-test – then HIV tests don’t have any clinical meaning.

We’re also told that you can “have” “HIV” and not know it. But, have you ever had an STD and not known it?? A sexually-transmitted yeast infection, herpetic infection, or any other sore or pimple in your groin – and “not known it?” (How did they sell us this garbage?)

And that’s their line – the tests don’t test for anything, and you’ll never know, unless you trust the test. It’s a very religious run-around.

But, we assign them great value. Why?

Magic Johnson-sponsored ‘Free HIV testing’ van: Ask for a package insert?

by Liam Scheff

Are you a slave? Does the government have the right to tell you who you can mate with? Do they own your body? The bodies of your children?

Are you a slave?

And, what are you shopping for today?

I approached the Magic Johnson-sponsored ‘Free HIV testing’ van, in the Fort Lauderdale mall parking lot, and asked the HIV testing dude if I could see a package insert for the magical test.  This is the technical instruction and legal disclaimer; the limitations of the medical device – the antibody test.

The HIV testing dude gave me a bit of paper – a PR sheet. I handed it back, and asked again for the test insert. He looked blankly, and handed me the same sheet. He did this twice, and tried a third time. I said, “Don’t give me that paper again – I’m asking for a package insert.”

He eventually gave up, and asked the foreman to come talk to me. A 50-something gay dude came out, and gave me a booklet – the package insert. I opened it, and found the language, as it always appears -

*No, we fooled you, suckers  – this is not really a test for hiv…*

• “The Clearview Complete HIV assay is intended for use as a point-of-care test to aids in the diagnosis of infection… This test is suitable for use in multi-test algorithms designed for the statistical validation of rapid HIV test results.”

Proof that HIV Causes AIDS?

I'm debating the HIV hypothesis with some colleagues and need to answer to the charge that HIV is present in 100% of AIDS cases, and because it's found in every case of AIDS, this proves HIV is the cause. Is this true? How would you respond to this argument?

Thanks,

Farrell

Dear Farrell,

With regard to the charge that HIV is present in 100% of AIDS cases and that this proves HIV causes AIDS, here are five points that challenge this idea followed by some detailed information on each point that may help you keep up your end of the debate. 

IS A POSITIVE WESTERN BLOT PROOF OF HIV INFECTION?

"...we are not simply contending in order that my view or that of yours may prevail, but I presume we ought both of us to be fighting for the truth..."  From Philebus, the Dialogues of Plato

It is currently accepted that a positive Western blot (WB) HIV antibody test is synonymous with HIV infection and the attendant risk of developing and dying from AIDS. In this communication we present a critical evaluation of the presently available data on HIV isolation and antibody testing. The available evidence indicates that: (a) the antibody tests are not standardised; (b) the antibody tests are not reproducible; (c) the WB proteins (bands) which are considered to be coded by the HIV genome and to be specific to HIV may not be coded by the HIV genome and may in fact represent normal cellular proteins; (d) even if the proteins are specific to HIV, because no gold standard has been used and may not even exist to determine specificity, a positive WB may represent nothing more than cross‑reactivity with the many non‑HIV antibodies present in AIDS patients and those at risk, and thus be unrelated to the presence of HIV. We conclude that the use of the HIV antibody tests as a diagnostic and epidemiological tool for HIV infection needs to be reappraised.

Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV

Zee Exclusive: It has been seen that Hepatitis kills more than one million people every year. While India has around 40 million patients with Hepatitis B, approximately 500 million people worldwide have either Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. In order to raise global awareness of this life threatening disease and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment, July 28 is observed as World Hepatitis Day.

World Hepatitis Day has been led by the World Hepatitis Alliance since 2007 and on May 2010, it got global endorsement from the World Health Organization. In an exclusive interview with Salome Phelamei of Zee News.com, Dr. Jai Babu talked on Hepatitis and its threat to public health, symptoms and treatment, and prevention methods.

Dr. Babu did his MBBS from Bangalore Medical College, and MD in General Medicine from PGIMER, Chandigarh. He had also completed his Senior Residency from JIPMER, Pondicherry.