Ex-prof says HIV not sexually transmitted

“It is absolutely definite, based on an unbiased collection of official data, that HIV is not an infection… Case closed.”

And so Henry Bauer, retired professor emeritus of chemistry and founder of the school of Science and Technology in Society, put his last year's work into the open last Friday in Major Williams Hall.

Directing an audience comprised of a smattering of students and plenty of faculty members to “greater than 200 published reports, peer-reviewed articles, and tens of millions of HIV tests,” Bauer hoped to incite an intellectual interest amongst his listeners.

“I hope that you so don't believe this and become so enraged that you go to the literature yourself,” said Bauer. “I found no significant contradictions anywhere to the sweeping assertions I'll be making.”

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta flatly rejected Bauer's claims.

“The scientific evidence is overwhelming and compelling that HIV is the cause of AIDS.

Infection with HIV has been the sole common factor shared by AIDS cases throughout the world among heterosexual men and women, transfusion recipients, people with hemophilia, sex partners of those infected, children born to infected women, and occupationally exposed health care workers,” said Jennifer Ruth, spokesperson for the CDC.

One aspect of his presentation that drew an immediate round of questioning was a graph displaying 13 studies from Africa, Haiti, and the United States that generally put the rate of sexual transmission of HIV at one per every 1,000 unprotected sex acts.

The most recent CDC data shows that the most risky type of sexual contact, receptive anal-intercourse, carries a risk of 50 infections per 10,000 exposures, with the least risky, receptive oral-intercourse, at .5 infections per 10,000 exposures.

“The transmission possibilities are so low that it becomes difficult to understand the magnitude of the HIV-1 epidemic,” wrote Bauer in his lecture.

Bauer referenced gonorrhea as a disease with considerably higher infection rates.

Junior computer science major Jonathan Burke, one of the most vocal members of the audience, quickly raised the point that comparing a virus (HIV) to a bacteria like gonorrhea is a fundamentally bad analysis.

“His telling weakness was that he had no proper comparison,” Burke said. “He was comparing apples and gerbils.”

Later, Bauer partially conceded Burke's point.

“Maybe I should use Hepatitis B as a comparison… I haven't looked at it specifically,” said Bauer.

Sixteen to 40 percent of unimmunized sexual partners will be infected with Hepatitis B through sexual contact with an infected partner, according to various studies.

According to Bauer, HIV is centered on the genetic make-up of racial groups.

“[A] positive HIV test reflects something physical that correlates with racial genomic patterns,” he said.

Bauer put forward this claim as an evolutionary concern, similar to the loss of dark pigmentation in the skins of Europeans. He explained Western Latinos having similar incidence to whites while Eastern Latinos are more akin to blacks in HIV infection due to different roots - Western Latinos being primarily Mexican, Eastern Latinos being predominately Caribbean with large African influence.

However, Bauer rejected what he called an “explicitly racial” bias in the long-held view of sexually-transmitted HIV.

“I can't believe that someone would think that someone (else's) race affects their sexual behavior,” said Bauer, referencing South African data where first-time black blood donors were almost 60 times more likely to be HIV positive per 100,000 donors.

The latest CDC data for the United States puts African-American males seven times more likely than white males to have contracted HIV (131.7 per 100,000 to 18.7) and African-American females 20 times more likely than white females (67 to 3.2).

Because she was unfamiliar with Bauer's specific research, Ruth would not comment on his claims specifically. “The realities of some African-American's lives may put them at greater risk ... (such as) high rates of STDs, poverty and drug use,” Ruth said.

One “hard science” faculty member wanted to see more traditional scientific methodology from Bauer's presentation.

“I have utmost respect for Henry, but I think he needs more technical stuff, more statistical analysis,” said Golde Holtzman, associate professor of statistics who has attended the STS lecture series for close to 20 years.

At least one took issue with something other than Bauer's science.

“I think what he's done is irresponsible and borderline unethical … Think of someone who is HIV positive, looking for answers, who stumbles across his website that has 'proven HIV is not sexually transmitted.' What message does that send?” said Daniel Breslau, associate professor of science and technology in society.

Burke expressed concern on scientific grounds.

“In science, you say 'lends credence to' or 'casts doubt on' … rarely ever do you prove or disprove,” he said.

Maintaining that he in no way aimed to mislead students, Bauer insisted that those with questions should seek their own answers and, in the meantime, avoid the prescribed treatments.

“You should protect yourself against all sexually transmitted infections … You should stay off drugs, eat well, sleep appropriately,” said Bauer. “And for God's sake, to stay off those anti-retrovirals.”

Bauer admitted that trials of this nature - keeping a control group off of the drugs - is a tall order, though saying that “various gay groups in the '80s” had postulated “carefully controlled variations in treatment.”

Brandiff Caron, a PhD candidate in STS, saw the college campus as the best medium for unorthodox notions like Bauer's.

“Given the radical nature, there's a meta-level statement to be made. It's a good example of open-spirited dialogue, and if (those holding views contrary) are truly secure in their position, they should welcome this. It's not a complete argument, but it pointed towards something,” Caron said.

“This isn't always obvious at Virginia Tech.”