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From: michaelm@ESD.3Com.COM (Michael McNeil)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: HIV testing and rape
Message-ID: <1991Jun20.050424.12791@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 20 Jun 91 04:16:32 GMT
References: <1991Jun10.150619.25217@cs.ucla.edu> <1991Jun10.234032.13610@cs.ucla.edu> <1991Jun11.194701.18033@cs.ucla.edu> <1991Jun17.164055.14041@cs.ucla.edu>
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mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin) writes:

>In article <1991Jun11.194701.18033@cs.ucla.edu> scott@bbxsda.UUCP
>(Scott Amspoker) writes:
>>Another problem is the implication that, if the victim tests positive,
>>then the infection came from the rapist.  In fact, if both test
>>positive, it's entirely possible the rapist got it from the victim.

>This is so unlikely that no one knows of a single case of its 
>happening. Female-to-male transmission is already relatively uncommon.
>Such transmission from a single encounter is even rarer.
>
>I generally reserve the use of phrases like "entirely possible"
>for circumstances that are reasonably likely to occur.

Since male-to-female transfer and infection by HIV from a single act
of heterosexual intercourse has been found in studies to have a rate
of about one in five hundred, I'd hardly call that very likely either.

>Mike Godwin
>mnemonic@eff.org

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