Wilmot James THE cumulative science of HIV/ AIDS stands or falls independently of former president Thabo Mbeki’s — or any other individual’s — views or opinions on what causes what in the natural world.Medical science is indifferent to individual views on the science of what causes disease. What is important to medical research are laboratory, clinical and community epidemiological observations.When it comes to HIV/AIDS, the facts could not be clearer, as stated in one of the best scientific texts on the subject (Viruses and Human Disease, 2002, page 196) co-authored by the California Institute of Technology’s James and Ellen Strauss.They write: "Two human lentiviruses, HIV-1 and HIV-2, cause the well-known disease called AIDS (acquired immune-deficiency syndrome)."Although both HIV-1 and HIV-2 cause AIDS in people, HIV-2 is not as serious a pathogen. It is HIV-1 that is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in people, and HIV-1 has correspondingly been much more exhaustively st...
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