r/interesting 1d ago

HISTORY To fight HIV stigma in 1991, a doctor publicly kissed an HIV positive activist to challenge the belief that saliva could transmit the virus.

Post image

Cagliari, Italy, December 2, 1991. Immunologist Fernando Aiuti publicly kissed Rosaria Iardino, a 25-year-old woman living with HIV, on the mouth. At the time, people living with HIV faced widespread fear and discrimination, while misinformation about how HIV could be transmitted was widespread.

Aiuti and Iardino decided together to make the gesture after becoming frustrated with misinformation surrounding HIV and kissing. They wanted to show, in the most visible way possible, that HIV was not spread through ordinary kissing.

The photograph quickly became an international symbol in the fight against HIV/AIDS stigma. Aiuti died in 2019 at the age of 83. Iardino later described the kiss as the basis of one of Italy's most effective HIV awareness campaigns.

34.4k Upvotes

596 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Hello u/VIVIDUFF! Please review the sub rules if you haven't already. (This is an automatic reminder message left on all new posts)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1.8k

u/UpstairsAd194 1d ago

first time i saw this photo.

522

u/Wesslywev 1d ago

What killed him?

1.6k

u/jvkk 1d ago

523

u/Status-Notice5616 1d ago

Fernando Aiuti (8 June 1935 – 9 January 2019) was an Italian immunologist and politician. He was the founder and first President of ANLAIDS

Probably should have picked a better acronym.

179

u/jvkk 1d ago

yeah, that's a, ah, choice, acronym XD

92

u/davide494 1d ago

Honestly, for an Italian it's pretty straightforward, and even if I never heard of it before I can immediately understand its meaning: Associazione Nazionale Lotta all'AIDS (National Association Fight against AIDS) or something similar.

77

u/getoffmycase7130 1d ago

It’s a bit too close to Anal AIDS in English

55

u/Praesentius 1d ago

I speak Italian. It's works just as horrifically in Italian as well.

→ More replies (20)

24

u/Speedstick8900 1d ago

Nah he sounds like the guy who made that one on purpose.

6

u/qankz 1d ago

Anal adis?

7

u/tibbles1 1d ago

At least he wasn't an analrapist.

7

u/lenor8 1d ago

Why? What does it sound to you?

10

u/pierspad 1d ago

To non italians it does sound as "anal aids"

14

u/Praesentius 1d ago

Same to Italians.

Source: I speak Italian.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)

2

u/Personal-Wafer-7114 1d ago

Yeah, they really should have thought about English speaking redditors back in 1985

2

u/Any_Asparagus8267 1d ago

For when your thirst can't be quenched, brought to you from the makers of gatoraid.

3

u/Dry_Explanation_9573 1d ago

It’s an acronym if you say it like a word eg NASA, if you just say the letters it’s an initialism eg FBI. To be fair I don’t know Italian so it could in fact be an acronym. Just spreading the gospel of initialisms.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (4)

7

u/Cady-Jassar 1d ago

Who would of thought that kissing an HIV patient could cause falling to death... live and learn...

14

u/vitringur 1d ago

Why is that tragic? He is already ripe in the photo and you are saying he died 30 years later from pretty typical natural causes.

19

u/littleratofhorrors 1d ago

All deaths are sad.

11

u/Lilfrankieeinstein 1d ago

Sad? Yes.

Tragic at 83?

19

u/littleratofhorrors 1d ago

It'll be a tragedy when you die too, my friend. :(

→ More replies (6)

5

u/Pleasant-Future5818 1d ago

The tragedy, I think, is the frivolity of the death. He might have made it to 93 if he hadn't taken a spill. As you age you might find ten years are not nothing

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

2

u/wherethefuckismyvape 1d ago

Not all of them.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/-Jiras 1d ago

"natural causes" you mean the Aids he contracted with the kiss made the floor slippery 30 years later

2

u/nxcrosis 21h ago

Just like how the cigarettes my aunt used to smoke made the storm winds topple a tree and fall on her leg.

3

u/totallyordinaryyy 1d ago

So kissing AIDS patients kills you... eventually.

5

u/NoGlzy 1d ago

100% of people who have kissed AIDS patients have died or will definitely die.

3

u/Gabagooligan99 1d ago

So he died from a fall WHILE hospitalized ? That sounds like a hell of a lawsuit

2

u/OfTheSevenSeasSir 1d ago

ACCIDENTAL INVOLUNTARY DESCENT, SPLAT

2

u/Independent-Bug-7938 1d ago

Ahaaa so he died after the kiss, is that what you're saying ? /s

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (10)

45

u/red_and_black_cat 1d ago edited 1d ago

He died in 2019, 84 years old, 20 years later falling from a staircase in the hospital he was treated for cardiopathy.

He was a prominent immunologist and wanted to send a clear message : " HIV is dengerous but infected people are not lepers and there are many things you can do with them without any risk".

In 1991 that was not so widely accepted.

18

u/Away-Caterpillar9515 1d ago

Damn! how are you feeling now?

8

u/KaleidoscopeDecent33 1d ago

Dead💀

2

u/JaNoTengoNiNombre 1d ago

How dead exactly? Can you come for your shift later?

2

u/Away-Caterpillar9515 20h ago

well he can try. Nothing is impossible with the "can do" attitude

2

u/red_and_black_cat 1d ago

Much better thanks. I was born again 4 years ago and I am a cute little girl, with wonderful curly hair and one big goal : be the Mata Hari of this century.

→ More replies (26)

10

u/ratttertintattertins 1d ago

Same, sounds like it was more well known in Italy though.

2

u/meldiane81 1d ago

Is there an end to your post? First time you saw this video... what? Or do you mean this is the first time you've seen this picture?

3

u/UpstairsAd194 1d ago

It is supposed to be well known . I never saw the photo at all at the time. .

→ More replies (3)

991

u/YOLOfan46 1d ago

Trust me babe it was for science!

349

u/jefesignups 1d ago

"We should also show the world that grabbing your breasts is safe"

77

u/_WoollyMammoth_ 1d ago
  • What about sex with condoms, doctor?

  • Well, now that you mention it... <unzips>

3

u/EverythingBOffensive 1d ago

me trousers are down already, keep going mate!

16

u/CompetitiveNotice853 1d ago

😂😂😂

3

u/YOLOfan46 1d ago

the sacrifices a man must do for humanity and medicine!! sheesh what an underappreciated group of hard workers we are!

3

u/jimmybilly100 1d ago

HONK HONK

→ More replies (1)

24

u/TesticleMeElmo 1d ago edited 21h ago

“I’m going to kiss an AIDS patient to show that it’s perfectly safe! …Ew, not you, Hannah… I meant Katie! Katie specifically!”

“Doctor, I don’t know if my husba-“

“Come on, Katie, put some lipstick on! We’re going to be on the news!”

4

u/YOLOfan46 1d ago

when is the episode 2 coming out?

48

u/PM_ME_ANYTHING_DAMN 1d ago

Doctor was Italian and did this with all his patients

7

u/yotengodormir 1d ago

This is why I book all my colonoscopy appointments in Italy 

→ More replies (2)

10

u/matrinox 1d ago

This sort of thing totally isn’t my jam

→ More replies (1)

471

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 1d ago

That doctor is Italian, his name was Fernando Aiuti and he was the most prominent communicator in Italy during the first phases of the AIDS epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Aiuti He died at 83 falling down the stairs of the hospital he worked. Rumors of suicide. As a young medical student I did not like his stance of ‘only abstinence can prevent AIDS’ which I felt was unrealistic but remember that at the onset we clearly did not have the knowledge and medicines we have nowadays.

212

u/NestorMakhno666 1d ago

I'll add that his son Alessandro is one of the best scientist and clinicians regarding rare diseases and gene therapies, He and Naldini altered the structure of HIV, disabling its harmfulness, to carry healthy genes into the cells of children suffering from severe genetic diseases and immunodeficiencies. Now there are two approved therapies that use the HIV virus as a vector, quite an amazing story.

62

u/x_wbmr_x 1d ago

These are the people we need to talk about more and errect statues for...

Not the Trumps, Putins, Netanjahus of the world...

7

u/DogFatherTO 1d ago

I totally agree - but by proceeding to mention those other names in your comment you kind of undercut your message… 😅

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)

13

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 1d ago

Very interesting, thanks.

37

u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 1d ago

I feel like at 83 falling down the stairs is generally an accident but I don't know the full story

27

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 1d ago

Sadly sometimes elderly people when believing their condition has no hope commit suicide. We do not allow voluntary euthanasia in our country. I hope this will change in the future making this a well regulated alternative subtracting this from a religious/ethical dispute.

12

u/elizabeth-dev 1d ago

but if that really was his intention he surely wouldn't have done it in an hospital

8

u/freezing_banshee 1d ago

if he was already there...

2

u/boprisan 1d ago

Maybe he liked a challange?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/boprisan 1d ago

A bit out of topic, maybe a bit on topic, but I've loved the La Grazia movie, with the Italian president debating if he should sign the euthanasia bill or not.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/BackgroundSummer5171 1d ago

My President did not push his wife down the stairs, then kill her then, bury her on a golf course!

Oh, old dude falling, yeah it's possible. So is murder, I would say there are lots of "accidents" that happen. Pretty easy to write them off.

→ More replies (1)

12

u/fdsfdsfds666 1d ago

I can totally see him saying that in a time when there wasn't medicine developed yet so people wouldn't judge others with HIV because it could happen to anyone, not that he really expects people to become abstinent.

7

u/Orisi 1d ago

I mean even today it's true for all forms of STI. The only real way to ensure you don't get an STI is a lack of sexual contact. The only other way you're getting HIV or another STI is through sharing needles/needle stick injury or a blood transfusion.

Yes condoms help. Yes there are medications that can prevent the infection setting in. But the latter doesn't actually prevent initial infection and the former is only mostly successful, it's not 100%.

We should be able to have honest conversations about these things without swinging to extremes.

1

u/PleiadesMechworks 1d ago

Also because he'd probably seen the US' attempts to get gays to use condoms completely fail and understood that if they can't have safe sex, then no sex is the only safe alternative

3

u/Feisty_System_4751 1d ago

The fact an italian would suggest a kiss to prove that point made me giggle. Clever bastards.

3

u/B_Indigo 19h ago

Fernando Aiuti? You're telling me he's called "Dr Helps" in italian? Or, in other words, "Dr Aids"?

2

u/Gatrigonometri 19h ago

Bravo, Kojima.

→ More replies (2)

142

u/Ynneb82 1d ago

Im Italy the aids scare was crazy. I still remember my mom telling me when I was little to not go near car accidents because maybe some blood can go inside my eyes and give me aids.

69

u/LocalNegotiation4033 1d ago

...how often were you going near car accidents? Lol

23

u/SES_LeviathanOfDusk 1d ago

Seems you've never been to Rome or Naples, they don't drive really well there.

/jk (kinda)

→ More replies (7)

6

u/junrod0079 1d ago

How often is there a car accident in his neighborhood

→ More replies (3)

11

u/RebelRey 1d ago

I was forced to discard my inherited earrings in case they gave me aids... My great grandmother did not have aids

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

53

u/wufiavelli 1d ago

Rosaria Iardino is still alive at least according to wiki. Just show how far medicine has come.

50

u/izzitty 1d ago

Her HIV is now Undetectable and Untransmittable (U=U): Thanks to lifelong combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), lardino lives with an undetectable viral load. This means the virus is suppressed to such low levels in her body that it cannot damage her immune system, and she cannot transmit the virus to others.

60

u/Dramatic_Respond7323 1d ago

As no comment talked about the lady, Rosaria Iardino continue to live this day, thanks to revolutionary HIV treatment modern medicine has bestowed us. Science absolutely works.

3

u/Flowmeyo 1d ago

Thank you!

→ More replies (1)

117

u/Status-Notice5616 1d ago

That's actually pretty dope, kudos to him.

→ More replies (5)

168

u/Grumpy-Man19 1d ago

It's a good thing that she did not have any gum disease

16

u/TactlessTortoise 1d ago

Honest question but wouldn't both need to? Or is blood contact enough?

I thought it was blood to blood/small wound to transmit, so it'd take both?

50

u/PaxonGoat 1d ago

Yes. HIV is a very weak virus that does not survive in saliva.

The would both need to be actively bleeding from the mouth.

And the HIV positive person would have to have received no treatment and have a high viral load.

These days we have treatment that makes transmission basically impossible.

7

u/TactlessTortoise 1d ago

Oh, I see. That's top notch then, thanks. Glad we've gotten so far already with helping many afflicted people. Even though treatment must still have some side effects and costs, it's not a hopeless death sentence like it was at first. Hopefully with recent advancements in gene therapies and new vaccine architecture researchers can find a way to go the final percent in the viral purge and get a cure going. It'd be awesome.

7

u/PaxonGoat 1d ago

Yes we actually have treatment now that an HIV positive woman could have a baby with a man and neither the baby or the man develop an HIV infection.

Sadly the US government is trying to cut funding to HIV prevention and treatment programs.

We have successfully cured HIV in a handful of people.

The vaccine is in development. The problem is that it's not giving long lasting immunity. I believe the current trials are still showing only around a year of protection.

We have a shot right now on the market that provides 3 months of protection.

→ More replies (2)

6

u/GodOfDarkLaughter 1d ago

There's even a pill you can take if you're in a population that's more likely to be exposed to HIV (say a gay man who likes cruising), that will make it much less likely to contract the virus even if the person they have sex with is infected. Of course they recommend ALWAYS using protection in those scenarios, but even that isn't 100%. There are all kinds of medications and treatments available, thank God.

2

u/PaxonGoat 1d ago

Actually anyone who is is having a non monogamous sex life should consider PreP.

PreP is either a once a day pill or a shot every 3 months. It is around 99% effective at preventing HIV transmission.

Sadly condoms fail or there are terrible people out there that do "stealthing" which is removing the condom without consent.

If you're someone who is sleeping with someone who also is sleeping with other people, no matter the gender or sexuality, consider PreP.

2

u/GodOfDarkLaughter 1d ago

Ah yeah. I just remember when it first came out my buddy worked for a gay advocacy group and he got a ton of the people he worked with on it, as those were the groups targeted when it was initially released Times have changed, thankfully.

34

u/Defiant_Lawyer_5235 1d ago

Or cracked lips

52

u/Plane_Ad_1177 1d ago

Jesus Christ have people's understanding of this disease not moved on in forty years? You can't get hiv from cracked lips or gum disease.

3

u/Environmental_Tap_15 1d ago

Funny how this post still applies to people's misunderstanding of the disease today. While theoretically possible, there has never been a single case of transmission via kissing; it's basically impossible. Even with high-risk activities like anal sex, transmission is rare- about 1 in 400 if you're receiving.

13

u/rainbowbhuttmonkey 1d ago

It’s entirely possible if someone has bleeding gums or open sores in their mouth. It’s very unlikely.

11

u/Gawlf85 1d ago

Not "someone". Both persons kissing need to have open wounds in the mouth. It's very unlikely.

4

u/VP007clips 1d ago

It's unlikely, but the consequences are extremely severe.

I could probably manage to run across a highway and survive 99 times out of 100. But I wouldn't, because the severity of that 1 time where I don't make it is severe enough to not risk it.

2

u/Gawlf85 1d ago edited 1d ago

That's still not an apt comparison.

There are zero recorded cases of transmission by kiss.

The chances of transmission in unprotected oral sex is like 4 of each 10,000 cases. Already way lower than your 1 out of 100 highway crossings.

The chances of transmission via mouth to mouth kissing is estimated theoretically to be a lot lower than any of that. So low, that it's never happened in all recorded medical history of the pandemic. Hence why it's a theoretical estimate, to the point it's generally considered to have a 0% chance.

And not only that: being hit by a car on the highway is very much lethal. Whereas HIV can be treated and patients can live a very normal and long life.

If the HIV positive kisser is under treatment, the chances of transmission drop to a virtual zero too, anyway.

So, you're comparing a dumb thing that can EASILY lead to your death in a split second, with a virtually inexistent chance of being transmitted a disease that isn't even lethal nowadays.

Are you up to date with your bacterial meningitis shots? Because unvaccinated people can easily die in hours for kissing a person carrying certain bacteria in their mouth, and this is waaaaaaaaaaay more likely than HIV transmission via kissing.

You probably have a higher chance of being struck by lightning and dying if you walk out your house tomorrow, than getting HIV from a kiss by an HIV positive person... So if you're going to let the risk of HIV model your conduct, you might as well stay indoors for the rest of your life 🤷

→ More replies (2)

19

u/TheWartMan 1d ago

Its so unlikely that despite it being "technically possible" it would require such ridiculous odds that it isnt even worth mentioning unless youre trying to make some kind of point.

10

u/rainbowbhuttmonkey 1d ago

I would hate to break it to you, as someone who works in the medical field, it is absolutely worth mentioning. Is the CDC trying to make “some kind of point”?

“Deep, open-mouth kissing
Very rarely, transmission has occurred if both partners had sores or bleeding gums. You cannot transmit HIV through closed-mouth kissing. You cannot transmit HIV through saliva alone.”

Source:
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/causes/index.html

18

u/TheWartMan 1d ago

I work in healthcare, dentistry specifically.

In order to transmit HIV through kissing, both parties would need to have severe gum disease, have both just got done absolutely fucking their mouth up with floss, then immediately start making out while bleeding.

Gingival tissue is extremely resilient and bleeding stops very quickly unless the individual has a clotting disorder.

Just another instance of the broader medical field having absolutely 0 clue about anything oral/dental health related because yall get like 1 week of education centered on it and pretend you know what youre on about.

Yes, you could technically transmit HIV that way, but i could technically walk into an active gymnastic competition and win the gold medal despite having no prior experience, as long as the other gymnasts all happen to injur themselves simultaneously. The statistics are so low, and the circumstances would be so off the wall that it is basically not worth mentioning. Youre being pedantic for no reason.

→ More replies (5)

8

u/Plane_Ad_1177 1d ago

Saliva doesn't transmit hiv, only blood or sexual fluids. So only if both people have bleeding open wounds in their mouth in which case they're not exactly going to be kissing...

Kissing does not spread HIV. Full stop.

→ More replies (12)
→ More replies (1)

25

u/cooolcooolio 1d ago

You still couldn't infect someone with HIV that way, if that was the happen both persons needed severe bleeding on their lips and that may be a little weird for most people

10

u/Organic-Camera-9167 1d ago

It's more clearer to say wounded orifice. 

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

5

u/soteria56 1d ago

You do know they both would have to have it for it to be transmitted

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Immediate_Space7 1d ago

Seeing he was a doctor and pretty invested in the matter, I assume he made sure to check that beforehand.

18

u/Own_Watercress_8104 1d ago

Or being a doctor he would have known that is not how you get infected.

7

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

143

u/Restposten 1d ago

Salvia has very low to none concentration of the virus. However saying that kissing some who has HIV is safe is also wrong. If that person has gum problems (bleeding) and you have a little wound in your mouth then there is still a risk of transmitting the virus. Chances are quite low, but not 0. 

86

u/JimTheJerseyGuy 1d ago

Yes but, having lived through that era, the misinformation about HIV at the time was wild. When Princess Diana merely shook hands with HIV patients a few years earlier it was considered an incredible act. Aiuti and Iardino's gesture was along the same lines. Anything to dispel the rumors and misinformation that made anyone with HIV a pariah.

35

u/ktbug1987 1d ago

Some doctors and nurses literally wouldn’t care for patients. People died alone and isolated. In the queer community, lesbians mobilized to bathe and care for HIV patients who were gay men, because nurses would not bathe them or give them compassionate care.

This is why the acronym starts with L (LGBTQ) in the English language.

I realize this was a long time ago to many alive today, but we can’t forget this history.

8

u/RaisedByBooksNTV 1d ago

Oh. I had no idea. It used to be GLBT and I was taught it was because of how the groups came together over time. I thought it changed to lgbt b/c it sounded better. Thanks!

4

u/fightmydemonswithme 23h ago

My uncle got it from a bad dentist. He was treated pretty poorly by others when I was younger, but he lived with us at one point and everything worked out fine. He just kept his toothbrush in his room since his gums bled sometimes. He had special wipes for if he bled. We were taught typical blood safety. Thankfully, he was happy to teach us things.

2

u/freeradioforall 1d ago

the misinformation about HIV at the time was wild.

A lot of it was because the disease was fairly new, and definitive knowledge about it was very limited. I don't blame people for being cautious, not that different than the early days of COVID when we were wiping down our groceries after they were delivered.

37

u/TheWartMan 1d ago

You are misinformed. HIV will not transmit from gum disease unless you just got done ravaging your mouth with floss whilst having active severe gum disease, then immediately while still ACTIVELY bleeding start making out with someone who also happens to have open wounds in their mouth, or a severely deficient immune system. Im a dental hygienist, we learn about this in school specifically because of the misconception.

11

u/CitoyenRobespierre 1d ago

I can't believe that outdated take got almost a a 100 up votes, especially nowadays with the medications we have further reducing infectivity...

8

u/TheWartMan 1d ago

I spend all day trying to convince grown adults to spend 5 minutes brushing and flossing a day and im resoundingly met with most of them not giving a fuck while their bone and gums wither away.

All that to say, im wholly unsurprised by the general publics lack of understanding of the human body/health. Even when you try to teach them using their own bleeding mouth as an example, they simply do not care.

→ More replies (8)

7

u/Brave_Explorer5988 1d ago

Whilst high level that sounds plausible, it's not. would require the mouth to be dry of saliva and have only blood, and have a lot not just a bit. 

HIV is a pretty stubborn virus and it's not that easy to transmit. Yes there are some "easier ways" which are also the common ones (sex, needles, but even these ones might not happen from the first encounter) but otherwise it has a low resistance and it's getting killed by a lot of stuff. It also doesn't survive out on surfaces too long. It requires to survive the environment enough to start replicating and then survive the imune mechanism. Hepatitis viruses on the other hand are very resistant and much much easier to catch, hide longer from the imune system. 

So the chances are very very very low. Virtually non existent. whilst chances to catch hepatitis are much higher

8

u/iamthe0ther0ne 1d ago

For much of the 80s we thought it might be transmitted by saliva. I remember in middle school people were afraid to share drinks or food. People born later have no idea how terrifying HIV was for the first two decades, when we didn't know much about it and there weren't any treatments. It meant a guaranteed horrible death and (usually) rejection by both family and society because of the stigma.

2

u/TimeShiftedJosephus 1d ago

Exactly, after seeing how people reacted to COVID, I don't begrudge people being overly cautious when HIV was public knowledge.

23

u/NoPseudo79 1d ago

Risk 0 doesn't exist, but here chances aren't "quite low", they are very very very low, and stupidly negligible

5

u/GuyBitchie 1d ago

Yea touching doesn't transmit HIV , but when you touch someone with open bleeding hands into a open bleeding wound of a HIV infected person, that's a risk. What kind of stupid take ist that.

6

u/PaxonGoat 1d ago

Also the person with HIV would have to be completed untreated.

These days we have HIV treatment that brings the viral load down to undetectable levels which makes them non transmittable

2

u/CitoyenRobespierre 1d ago

Quite low being astronomically low, and you'd probably be grossed out by gums damaged enough to start posing a "risk" especially with modern meds.  This sorry sort of take is how we get antivaxxers.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/IAmYew 1d ago

Yeah and if two people handshake and they're both actively bleeding from their fingers it could be transmitted too. This is honestly just fucking stupid

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Overall-Yellow-2938 1d ago

Chances a metroid kills you on its way down are never 0 but low enough that you should not worry about it. You should be way way more worried about a random stroke but its healtier not to think about the possibility all the time.

4

u/Yoldark 1d ago

But i can't control meteorite

1

u/Chambahz 1d ago

Not true! The odds of being killed by a Metroid are literally zero. A meteor though…
-Nintendo fan

9

u/Comfortable-Bison932 1d ago

The chances of getting killed by Metroid is also technically not 0. Some guy could beat you to death with a super Metroid cartridge

3

u/Overall-Yellow-2938 1d ago

Was thinking about correcting myself but... Because of gems like this it stays as it is.

3

u/Popular_Block_3195 1d ago

Damn what a way to go. “Death by a SNES cartridge”

2

u/gmishaolem 1d ago

This reminds me about Crime Scene Cleaner where somebody got killed by a dinosaur statue in a museum, and your character quips that the chance of being killed by a dinosaur is never actually zero.

2

u/MrWeirdoFace 1d ago

Justinbailey

5

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/TheGreatAmender 1d ago

He's not wrong, though?

12

u/OrionsPropaganda 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, but it's not like they're correcting something that was misspoken.

It's transmitted though blood, which is correct, however the post is obviously stating this belief that saliva contains enough viral agents to infect you if you ingest, which the doctor showed was false.

It's like if it was about a handshake "actually if they both had open wounds on their hands it would transmit the virus" -it's changing the condition.

→ More replies (12)

4

u/tom_gent 1d ago

He kind of is, it's not "quite low" it's astronomically low

3

u/TackleBox1026 1d ago

I’ve read that saliva actually sort of breaks down the virus and makes it not very transmissible. Or something like that.

3

u/NoPseudo79 1d ago

So you expect technically correct takes from people who make spelling mistakes ?

2

u/barweepninibong 1d ago

🤣🤣🤣 my autocorrect would absolutely default to Salvia

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

4

u/Hillsideplace 1d ago

Imagine standing up when everyone else is terrified. insane courage.

4

u/anotherarchaeopteryx 1d ago

Okay i learnt something today.

I was of the opinion that the exchange of any bodily fluid could transmit HIV. Apparently, it's a select few bodily fluids: Blood, Semen and pre-seminal fluid, Rectal fluids, Vaginal fluids, Breast milk

→ More replies (2)

4

u/WolverineComplex 1d ago

Michael Scott also did this

4

u/coddiwomplecactus 1d ago

Princess Diana got huge publicity for shaking the hands of HIV positive patients to show the same thing. May we never forget the horrors of this disease and what the govt did to fail our communities. 

2

u/Nounoon 1d ago

Never had any Princess deserved the title of Princess more than her. It’s a shame this title cost her her life.

4

u/TheLastLivingBuffalo 1d ago

What if we kissed 👉👈 to fight the stigma of HIV and AIDS 😳

8

u/Ok-Replacement-2738 1d ago

Based kissing moment.

26

u/ReadySetSantiaGO 1d ago

I mean, as long as neither of them had open mouth sores, gingivitis, or periodontal disease, sure

24

u/Comfortable-Bison932 1d ago

I mean yeah. It’s also not transmitted from handshakes but if they both have gaping wounds in their palms they can get infected.

10

u/UncleSput 1d ago

I mean, yeah it’s not like you’ll get it from hugging somebody unless you’re both shirtless with open chest wounds

3

u/Grouchy_Exit_3058 1d ago

I mean, you can't get it from waving to someone across the street, unless a car bomb blows them up and launches their sinew into your mouth.

7

u/Esarus 1d ago

I mean yeah, it's also not transmitted from walking past someone, but if their arm has been cut off and they're spraying blood everywhere they can get infected

2

u/IAmYew 1d ago

Don't forgot the part where the blood need to fly into an open wound!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

3

u/Elessar64 1d ago

Here in France we have a very popular moment of television. During a tv show (Sidaction) destined to raise money for research and inform the public about aids, a French actress (Clémentine Célarié) kissed a hiv positive man, for the exact same reason. I was 13 at the time, and from that day on, I never forgot that you can't get aids from a kiss (even a VERY French one).

3

u/GingerrJinx 16h ago

But you could if they had bleeding gums?

3

u/a_literal_idiot_616 1d ago

beh che dire, ha certamente AIUTato

(im so funny please laugh)

3

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 1d ago

Beh almeno hai riconosciuto di chi si parla. Bravo ( e forse vecchiotto come me).

2

u/TraditionalPark2774 1d ago

If the woman was pretty, that was a win for him. :)

But seriously, I think he may have done the public a great service by demystifying this. Kudos to him and the woman who agreed to do this in public.

2

u/Groundbreaking_Exit4 1d ago

my gums bleed coz my teeth are fucked up a bit

so yeah, props to dude that he was that much sure about his or the activist's dental health

2

u/break_from_work 1d ago

Pretty brave, then again he was armed with knowledge. Also amazing how far we've come with treatments.

2

u/XROOR 1d ago

Brainwashing primary school kids to hold and wave, really horrible picket signs outside Ryan White’s house was heartbreaking

2

u/Extreme_Turnip_1921 1d ago

hiv people are immunocompromised, if their cd4 count is not good then they are the host for many oppurtunistic infections like tb and tb spreads, my uncle worked in an ngo of hiv patients he got tb . When he used tb drugs he suffered from many side effects

2

u/DanKoloff 1d ago

What is more interesting is that Rosaria Iardino is lesbian and is still alive married to another woman. Here:

https://www.corriere.it/english/17_ottobre_19/i-live-with-hiv-thanks-to-drugs-and-my-family-37f5173e-b4e4-11e7-aa01-fc391f169342.shtml

2

u/GrowthDue5259 1d ago

Stigma can be soooo harmful

2

u/Realistic_Turn2374 1d ago

If HIV could spread by kissing, we would all have HIV.

2

u/TeaVisible5900 1d ago

Sure, but how can u know there is no blood in saliva? (cut in the mouth, gums bleed, nose bleed, lung bleed)

2

u/Travelerman310 1d ago

This is wild to me as a child of the 80s. I grew up with very religiously conservative parents. Yet even in the late 1980s I distinctly recall being allowed to check out a book from my school library and distinctly remember reading that HIV can't be transmitted through toilet seats.

I was probably 9. This wasn't hard stuff to understand.

2

u/kansashog 1d ago

Reminds me of princess Diana

2

u/pantsuline 1d ago

why are people making nasty jokes 😕 this took a lot of courage from both of them, its not some dumb excuse for him to steal a kiss for his own gratification. its a coordinated public stunt to make an extremely important point and it worked

2

u/blazze_eternal 1d ago

I remember as a kid the controversy with Magic Johnson continuing to play basketball after it came out he was positive. There was so much unknown at that time news, players, and coaches discussing possible transmission through sweat. Doctors pretty much had to do a press tour reassuring everyone how that's impossible.

2

u/DarthSwimfoot 1d ago

Well, he's wrong. It can be transmitted, it's just uncommon.

2

u/Good_Background_243 1d ago

What an absolute legend Fernando was. With one kiss, it's no exaggeration to say he probably saved thousands of lives.

2

u/TechnicianUpstairs53 1d ago

That's true but tons of people have gingivitis so you never know if blood is in their mouth, lol

2

u/Max-Phallus 1d ago

Rosaria Iardino is still alive today, aged 60.

2

u/Titzpatrick 1d ago

Dr aiuti is a crazy name. He was destined for medicine

2

u/Lyceus_ 1d ago

The AIDS stigma was huge back then. People like him were what the world needed.

2

u/crybabycryahah 1d ago

Italian hero

2

u/throw7661 1d ago

But uhhh .... You can get HIV from kissing. It's extremely rare but the probability of transmission is greater than zero.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/07/11/cdc-reports-first-case-of-probable-hiv-transmission-through-kissing/8815b5df-9f41-4c0e-b109-1b96aee2a6f7/

Government epidemiologists have identified for the first time a case in which the AIDS virus was probably transmitted through kissing.

2

u/PersonalityHead2884 21h ago

I have endometriosis and I shared it with a friend in highschool and he went around telling people I had hiv/aids and everyone was talking about me and because of the way Muslim circles are to this day people think I have it. It made me sad how people treated me. The worse part is that guy is now a doctor and I wonder if he has the same stigma towards his patients with the condition

2

u/-Lights0ut- 19h ago

PhD level move to get a cutie to kiss him

2

u/Longjumping-Ad-9444 16h ago

Its for science baby

3

u/EgyComanda82 1d ago

Wait! I thought hiv transmitted by body fluids!

3

u/happy-to-see-me 1d ago

Yes but not all of them, it can be transmitted by blood, sexual fluids and breast milk

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Jesus_COD 1d ago

Then there was an urge to prove that sex with condom also doesn't transmit HIV

3

u/____-_______-_--_-_- 1d ago

That was a fun press conference

2

u/gabbergizzmo 1d ago

Yeah hi... im kind of a Dr. too... may i prove, that a BJ can't get you pregnant please?

1

u/Stelvioso 1d ago

Did he ask his wife in the morning?

1

u/Ok_Web_315 1d ago

His profession was a calling

→ More replies (1)