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From: Wounded.Bird@f38.n135.z1.fidonet.org (Wounded Bird)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Get tested
Message-ID: <28788@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 8 Oct 89 18:48:35 GMT
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Archive-number: 1333

This is difficult for me even under a pseudonym but it is important for
everyone to realize. Unless you obtain an HIV test you could go for years
without knowing that you are HIV positive and unwittingly infecting others.

I conciously decided to abstain from intimate sexual contact sometime in 1984.
This decision was made after learning what HIV was and that it was killing
people. My physician at that time refused to allow me to be tested as he stated
it could ruin my life (insurance, job descrimination, etc). Between 1984 and
early in 1989 (5 years) I had absolutely no unusual symptoms. As far as I was
concerned I was as "healthy as a horse" . During March of 1989 I spent 19 days
on IV Pentam fighting PCP. I almost died from it. I KNOW I was not infected
after 1984. I don't know how long before that it occured. I have been told it
can remain dormant up to 10 years.

YOU CAN BE INFECTED WITH HIV FOR MANY YEARS AND NOT KNOW IT! GET A CONFIDENTIAL
TEST. The life you save may be your best friend!

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