# Do black people have a genetic predisposition to catching HIV ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111 "2013-08-25T06:29:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/41 "2013-08-29T11:52:22Z")
Has anyone found exactly when HIV emerged as a human disease? And did it firts appear in Africa? Was it a harmless virus that mutated into a deadly one? ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/42 "2013-08-29T13:09:32Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > 5 per 10,000 for the straight penile-vaginal sex…that seems incredibly low. > > Look at it this way. You’re a man, and you’re a PLAYA. You have sex with 5 women a week. (I suppose I could say 7, but a man’s gotta rest…) > > Anyways, it’s 5 different women a week, with some repeats, all unprotected, and 10% of the population has HIV. > > 52 weeks a year, so that’s 260 risky sexual encounters a year. > > Since only 10% of the population has HIV, you could be expected to need 20,000 total encounters to “catch it”. > > That’s 76 years of being a PLAYA. Even Hugh Hefner isn’t that good, I don’t think he got any until he was 13 or 15 or so, and he’s 87 now. > > Joking aside, I don’t honestly think an extremely attractive man could keep sleeping around like this for more than 10 years or so total, which is only 2600 total encounters, for a slightly more than 10% chance of catching the HIV. > > In real populations, the prevalence rate is much lower. Sounds like you could bareback your way through a lot of countries and not get the disease. > > But another factor : just my brief treatment of the numbers reveals a compelling fact. It sounds like if the disease had a high enough prevalence, mere promiscuous heterosexual P-V sex could keep the disease at stable levels in the population. However, it could never have gotten started this way. In the past, when the disease was 1 in a million, there’s no way P-V sex would spread the disease anywhere. It had to have spread around other ways. People like SEX, they just love it… So they keep doing it. It’s great! STD’s haven’t stopped people from having sex - not even deadly ones like HIV. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/43 "2013-08-29T14:01:33Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Has anyone found exactly when HIV emerged as a human disease? And did it firts appear in Africa? Was it a harmless virus that mutated into a deadly one? That’s a whole separate thread… but: general theory is that it someho crossed the line from endemic monkey disease to humans, possibly several times, in Africa. Until modern times, that sort of disease probably was lost in he “noise” of miscellaneous diseases that people randomly sickened and died from. Possibly from hunters cutting themselves while butchering monkeys… One way or another it crossed from Africa to Europe and North America. Someone published a book claiming a gay (Canadian?) flight attendant responsible for spreading it from Africa to the West. Other historical analyses claim the disease was common in central Africa by the 1930’s, possibly it was spread by the lax sterilization procedures of the earliest public health efforts. Similar efforts in the 1950’s may have also spread the disease. Out in the sticks, some groups may not have practiced careful sterilization, for example, of vaccine needles. Even in North America, random deaths where people sickened and died for no particular obvious cause were not completely unknown - especially when any gay or promiscuous behaviour was likely hidden. AIDS came to the attention of the medical community because it found in San Francisco a perfect incubation site. All joking aside - San Francisco by the late 1970’s was a huge community of active and promiscuous gay men, some of whom would find as many partners as possible, often several a night. When plenty of otherwise healthy and fit gay men started dying of mysterious infections it caught the attention of the medical community by the early 1980’s. So it’s not inconceivable that this group was pushing the boundaries of “do it 100 times and there’s a 50% chance you’ll get infected…”. Subsequent spreading of the disease in North America was also generally through IV drug users sharing needles. And, as mentioned above, in Africa, the use of prostitutes and the number of migrant workers is a significant factor in teh spread of the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/44 "2013-08-29T14:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Habeed** : > > Since only 10% of the population has HIV, you could be expected to need 20,000 total encounters to “catch it”. You’re assuming that the women a playa has sex with are a representative cross-section of the population. More likely, though, the women he’s sleeping with will be fairly promiscuous, possibly even prostitutes, which means that a much higher percentage of them will be infected. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/45 "2013-08-29T16:19:27Z")
Again, the infection rate is higher when you have untreated ulcerative STDs, which is very common in the area. Great summary, md2000. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/46 "2013-08-29T16:46:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You’re assuming that the women a playa has sex with are a representative cross-section of the population. More likely, though, the women he’s sleeping with will be fairly promiscuous, possibly even prostitutes, which means that a much higher percentage of them will be infected. Actually, there is an argument to be made that prostitutes take the thing more seriously and get tested regularly. I know for a fact there is sexclubs where you can have unprotected sex with prostitutes… and they have the most recent tests available for patrons if they wish to check. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/47 "2013-08-29T18:03:50Z")
Here in the US, at high-end clubs with expensive prostitutes, maybe… But in third-world Africa? And if these prostitutes you mention are having unprotected sex with clients, then they’re not really taking the thing seriously. Unless they make the clients take the tests first, too? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/48 "2013-08-29T18:10:26Z")
Especially considering, IIRC, that it can take several weeks to get a positive test reading after infection. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/49 "2013-08-29T20:40:10Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > When plenty of otherwise healthy and fit gay men started dying of mysterious infections it caught the attention of the medical community by the early 1980’s. They werent exactly ‘healthy’. Many were infected with other STDs and mist were taking drugs like poppers that lowered the immune system. ---
**Author:** ![LMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@LMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LMarie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/50 "2013-08-29T21:32:07Z")
In certain African cultures sex is still a very taboo subject. Purchasing, distributing or using condoms is also frowned upon in some circles. As someone else stated earlier, men often travel to work in other areas and while they are away they have sex with other women. They then come home to their wives and it is almost unheard of for a wife to insist that her husband wear a condom and so the disease is often spread this way. Once I was given a tour of a women’s dormitory in Nairobi, Kenya. Inside one of the restrooms a resident had placed a bag of condoms with a sign encouraging her housemates to take and use one if needed. The women who were showing me around were incredibly shocked and embarrassed by the display and profusely apologized to me for having to witness such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/51 "2013-08-29T23:01:55Z")
Michael Fumento wrote a book called [the myth of heterosexual aids](http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Heterosexual-AIDS-Distorted/dp/0895267292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377817078&sr=8-1&keywords=the+myth+of+heterosexual+aids) which, even though I haven’t read it, addresses this issue a bit. [http://fumento.com/aids/aids2005.html](http://fumento.com/aids/aids2005.html) Potential reasons for higher HIV rates in Africa include More anal sex People who have STDs which cause breaking of the skin in the vagina or penis, who aren’t getting proper treatment, increase the risk of infection from vanilla sex Reusing of needles in health care settings Diseases like smallpox and the black plague made europeans more resistant to HIV. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/52 "2013-08-29T23:05:20Z")
> [@LMarie](#): > > In certain African cultures sex is still a very taboo subject. Purchasing, distributing or using condoms is also frowned upon in some circles. As someone else stated earlier, men often travel to work in other areas and while they are away they have sex with other women. They then come home to their wives and it is almost unheard of for a wife to insist that her husband wear a condom and so the disease is often spread this way. > > Once I was given a tour of a women’s dormitory in Nairobi, Kenya. Inside one of the restrooms a resident had placed a bag of condoms with a sign encouraging her housemates to take and use one if needed. The women who were showing me around were incredibly shocked and embarrassed by the display and profusely apologized to me for having to witness such a thing. Yeah but the odds of a person getting HIV from having unprotected vaginal sex from an infected person is about 1 in 2000. The odds of catching it from oral sex is even lower. The odds of getting it from anal sex is about 1 in 30. The numbers vary based on the study though. However the odds of getting it from vaginal sex are pretty low, even lower for oral sex. Vaginal sex can’t explain the high HIV rates in Africa. [http://www.thebody.com/content/art57330.html](http://www.thebody.com/content/art57330.html) > [@](#): > > Researchers from Imperial College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine did a meta-analysis of 16 studies related to HIV risk during unprotected anal sex. Most of the studies involved gay or bisexual men. (Our friends at NAM recently summarized the findings in detail.) They estimated that HIV transmission risk during a single act of unprotected, receptive anal sex may be 18 times higher than unprotected, receptive vaginal sex: 1.4 percent compared to 0.08 percent. The estimated risk for unprotected, insertive anal sex was, as expected, found to be lower (0.62 percent) than for receptive anal sex – and lower still if the man is circumcised (0.11 percent). Still, the risk percentages are all higher for anal sex than vaginal sex, which is in line with earlier study findings. When I first read that I thought it said ‘unexpected anal sex’ not ‘unprotected’ anal sex. Totally different set of problems in that study. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/53 "2013-08-30T02:11:32Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > They werent exactly ‘healthy’. Many were infected with other STDs and mist were taking drugs like poppers that lowered the immune system. Still, in a time and place where people did not typically sicken and die for no reason, they were dropping off in the prime of their life like fruit flies. THAT got the attention of the medical community, especially when a doctor would see a dozen similar cases with the one common factor. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/54 "2013-08-30T02:14:10Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Another thing I have heard is that it is not considered gay for men to do each other anal if they are having trouble finding a woman for some reason. Really? Because that’s pretty much textbook gay. ---
**Author:** ![auntlohimein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/74df32/32.png) [@auntlohimein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntlohimein)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/55 "2013-08-30T02:50:43Z")
----HI- my 19yo showed me a book on infectious dz, it showed a map of where two rivers converged and trade routes using the water spread hiv, also blood from the 50’s that was stored +. I know from working at JHHosp. hiv clinic info about truck route prostitutes that were almost all + and infected men who carried it far and wide and back to home. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111/56 "2013-08-30T15:04:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Really? Because that’s pretty much textbook gay. Every culture has had different notions about what is “gay”, or “mainstream”, or “acceptable”. In some cultures, what counts as outside the mainstream might depend on who was the older member of the couple, or who had the higher social standing, or who was the penetrator vs. penetrated, or some combination of those factors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-people-have-a-genetic-predisposition-to-catching-hiv/667111.md?page=2)