Hi all,

Something we need to keep in mind about "body fluids" in reference to HIV/AIDS
is that the term body fluids was used as a euphemism or weasel word for semen
and blood. Some of the government and/or public health people back in the
early and mid 1980s couldn't bear talking honestly about blood and semen being
the vectors for the transmission of HIV, so they started using the term body
fluids instead. So people panicked about sweat, saliva, and tears. The fact is
that blood and semen are far and away the most important vectors for the
spread of HIV. Sweat and tears don't carry risk of HIV transmission and saliva
is very unlikely to be a source of infection outside the presence of
additional factors, eg, the presence of open sores in the mouth.

For more information about the politics of AIDS, read Randy Shilts's
magnificent, heartbreaking book  And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and
the AIDS Epidemic (St. Martin's Press 1987).

Warmly,
Carol Kelley, LLLL
Taylors SC
"How many names will it take?" T-shirt from AIDS Quilt display 11-13 October
1997