Monday, January 02, 2006

I'm Not A Smart Man, But I Know What An STD Is

Okay, so, here's the thing:

Jenny died of AIDS, right? So doesn't that mean that she would have transmitted it to Forrest the night they had sex, the night Forrest Jr. was conceived? And doesn't that mean that Forrest Jr. has it, too?

I'd prefer an answer from an expert in the field, or, if he's reading this, Robert Zemeckis.

5 Comments:

and buster can you do that outside pal...

mom says it's too windy...

By Blogger Cody Blair, at 8:16 AM, January 03, 2006  

She was a bit of a skank, true. But I thought she cleaned up, then slept with Forrest, then broke his heart for the 19th time by running away to have the baby and be a waitress (which is much better than living on a plantation with a millionaire. Good choice). It seems like she stayed clean after that, so I always thought she got infected earlier in the timeline. Then again, I could be reading just a bit too far into this.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that children of infected parents didn't always get it.

By Blogger Dan Carlson, at 3:57 PM, January 03, 2006  

Yeah, the children only get AIDS if blood gets into their system during birth, usually through the eyes. If Jenny had a c-section, infection could have been avoided altogether.

However, I though Forrest Jr. was 7 or something. If she got AIDS before she had him, wouldn't she have died sooner? Without treatment, how long can an AIDS infected person live? I'm not actually sure what the average life-span is.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:34 PM, January 03, 2006  

I work as an HIV counselor, as someone said earlier, not all children get HIV from their mothers. Maybe about 1 in 4. Also, even if she had HIV when she slept with Forrest, he wouldn't necessarily get it from her. Not every exposure automatically results in transmission and it's harder for men to get it from women than women from men.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:25 PM, January 08, 2006  

This has easily been the most informative comment section I've ever had. Seriously, I'm glad everyone chipped in. I had no idea about the answer.

By Blogger Dan Carlson, at 4:10 PM, January 08, 2006  

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