January 06, 2023 | Molly Stellino
The claim: There is no proof HIV is the cause of AIDS
A Dec. 15 Facebook video shows Kary Mullis, a scientist known for denying the link between HIV and AIDS, claiming again there is no proof HIV is the cause of AIDS.
A narrator says Mullis found no proof when he searched for evidence HIV caused AIDS.
“What is that paper? Who do I go to for that?” Mullis says. “And I looked around, I asked a couple of virologists that come in. They said, ‘I have to reference that because I don’t know where that came from. How do I know that?’ And it turned out that nobody knew it.”
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in a week. The clip comes from a 2009 documentary that promoted AIDS denialism, which has more than 300,000 views on YouTube.
Our rating: False
Health agencies agree that HIV causes AIDS, and there is ample scientific evidence to prove it. Experts say a long list of experiments and studies have shown a causal link between the two.
...
Key evidence proving HIV is the cause of AIDS includes studies where everyone who received AIDS therapy targeting HIV experienced a reduction of the virus, the development of blood tests that accurately identified the virus in people with AIDS and incidents of accidental lab exposures to HIV, said Dr. Robert Gallo, the virologist who co-discovered HIV.
“There is no infectious disease in the history of medicine with anywhere near this amount of evidence. It is conclusive," said Gallo, the director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Anyone saying differently is ignorant.”
Contact
Institute of Human Virology
Jennifer Gonzales
Public Relations & Communications Manager
jennifer.gonzales@ihv.umaryland.edu
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Thursday, June 11, 2020
Global Virus Network Suggests Oral Polio Vaccine May Provide Temporary Protection Against COVID-19
The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition comprised of the world’s preeminent human and animal virologists from 53 Centers of Excellence, including the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and 10 Affiliates in 32 countries, published a viewpoint in Science today that the stimulation of innate immunity by live attenuated vaccines in general, and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in particular, could provide temporary protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Friday, May 01, 2020
NYT Op-Ed Features Gallo-Chumakov Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19 Idea
What if We Already Have a Coronavirus Vaccine? Researchers are testing whether decades-old vaccines for polio and tuberculosis could protect against infection.
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Appears on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal
Please check out Dr. Robert Gallo’s C-SPAN Washington Journal appearance today to discuss COVID-19 treatments, vaccines, the need for the Global Virus Network, and more.
Monday, April 27, 2020
Expert Breaks Down Coronavirus Research: Is it Worse than HIV? Is it Mutating?
IHV Co-Founder and Director, Robert Gallo, MD is interviewed on LBC, a radio station in the United Kingdom. Darren Adam had Professor Gallo on the line to discuss his research in the past and the work he's carrying out during the coronavirus crisis. "We have learned to live with HIV" Darren began, listing out how it has changed from a death sentence to a disease that humans can live a long life with. He wondered if this could be possibly the path we're taking with Covid-19.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo on India Today Discussing the Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19
IndiaToday on Twitter - “Can oral polio vaccine help in fighting #Covid19? @DrRobertCGallo responds. #NewsToday with @sardesairajdeep
Friday, April 17, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Discusses Repurposing the Oral Polio Vaccine on CNN
Dr. Robert Gallo discusses repurposing the oral polio vaccine, drug therapies and more on COVID-19 on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, April 17, 2020.
Monday, April 13, 2020
Can an Oral Polio Vaccine Stop COVID-19?
Please see this just released Associated Press article, “Could old vaccines for other germs protect against COVID-19?” with Dr. Robert Gallo (Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine) and Dr. Konstantin Chumakov (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), both of the Global Virus Network (GVN).
Wednesday, April 08, 2020
Institute of Human Virology Co-founder on Coronavirus Recovery, Antibody Testing, Drug Testing, Bloomberg TV
Dr. Robert Gallo, the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Co-founder and director discusses the coronavirus. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
Tuesday, April 07, 2020
A Deep Look Into The Coronavirus with Dr. Robert Gallo on WYPR (Baltimore’s local NPR station)
(WNPR) Dr. Robert Gallo has been getting to know viruses-- their targets and their weaknesses--for decades, even before he co-discovered the virus that causes AIDS in the 1980s. At the University of Maryland’s Institute for Human Virology, which he heads, Gallo is looking at the coronavirus; he joins us to share his thoughts. Gallo is also co-founder and international scientific advisor at the Global Virus Network.
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Featured on MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Brian Williams
Robert Gallo, MD, Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Virology, discusses SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, specifically, how he thinks the fight against the Coronavirus is going thus far.
Friday, October 04, 2019
Institute of Human Virology Hosts 21st Annual International Meeting of Top Scientists on Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America and the Intersection of Opioid Use Disorder
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine commenced IHV2019 held Thursday, October 3 through Friday, October 4 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. This year “Progress in HIV/AIDS: Challenges in 2020” opened with highlights about the recent plan for "Ending the HIV Epidemic by 2030” with expert opinions by ADM Brett Giroir, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Monday, August 26, 2019
Dr. Robert Gallo Featured in Malcolm Gladwell's Podcast, "Revisionist History: The Obscure Virus Club"
"Revisionist History" by Malcolm Gladwell: “The Obscure Virus Club,” featuring three prominent virologists, including Dr. Robert Gallo (as well as Dr. Ludwig Gross and Dr. Howard Temin).
Monday, June 24, 2019
UM School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology Awarded $40 Million Grant to Conduct HIV Population Surveys
Man Charurat, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity (CIHEB), and Director, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention, Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), has been awarded a five-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct HIV population-based HIV impact assessments worldwide to measure the progress towards the control of the HIV epidemic
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Large National Survey Shows Smaller HIV Epidemic in Nigeria Than Once Thought and Highlights Key Gaps
(CDC) The Government of Nigeria, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine released new data from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS), one of the largest population-based HIV/AIDS household surveys ever conducted. The NAIIS directly measured HIV prevalence and viral load suppression. According to the NAIIS results, the HIV prevalence in Nigeria is lower than previously thought, allowing the country to focus on providing services to the areas of greatest need to control the HIV epidemic.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Institute of Human Virology Marks National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Wednesday, September 27 as HIV/AIDS Increases in Baltimore’s Youth
The proportion of newly reported HIV diagnoses among Maryland youth has tripled over 20 years. The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine will host an event Wednesday, September 27 to raise awareness about the rise in HIV/AIDS among Maryland’s youth ages 13-24, particularly among young black men. Of the 252 youth HIV diagnoses in 2015, 82.5 percent were male and 17.5 percent were female in Maryland while 82.1 percent of these new diagnoses were African American. The statistics are astounding considering the availability of prevention therapy.
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
UM School of Medicine Receives $2 Million Grant for HIV Research in Malawi
The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UM SOM) Institute for Global Health (IGH) and the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) have been awarded a $2 million five-year grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the impact exposure to HIV has on the immune systems of infants in utero and how those changes impact the ability of infants to fight off infections after birth.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
"A Call to End HIV/AIDS in America" IHV Director Dr. Robert Gallo's Op-Ed in the Huffington Post
As the new Administration is presented with great challenges facing the United States, one will be a longtime foe, the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, I have publicly called on our country’s leaders to utilize the largest global health initiative in history - the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - as a model to address the U.S. epidemic.