Res Gestae
HIV alert
My email inbox is often loaded with forwarded messages of all sorts. Inspirational. “Pornographic”. Scam. Informative. To give justice to those who sent these messages, I allot the first five-minute of my internet session reading them. I don’t discriminate. I gain insights from varied stuffs – sacred or profane.
In my almost three years as an internet user, I have gotten used of receiving religious messages of “fatalistic” characters. These messages usually have parting lines such as “Make a wish and send this message to five of your friends. After three days, your wish will be granted. If you ignore, hell will fall upon you and your family.” I haven’t tried forwarding this kind of stuff ever and, mind you, God is really good! I am still astounded with the countless of blessings that come into my life!
This time I am sharing a message which I received through the email. As I said, I haven’t tried doing this before. If I do this now, it is not because I’m afraid that hell would fall upon me. No. It is because anyone of you may turn victim should you fail to take pre-cautions. And, thinking that not all of you have time for internet session, I opt to copy this message as it appears in my inbox.
Dear Friends,
Kindly take a couple of minutes to go thru this mail. If useful may advise others also .... Please pass this on to others This happened in Paris recently and may happen elsewhere also.
A few weeks ago, in a movie theatre, a person felt something poking from her seat. When she got up to see what it was, she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a note attached saying "You have just been infected by HIV".
The Disease Control Center (in Paris) reports many similar events in many other cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive.
The Center also reports that needles have been found in cash dispensers at public banking machines. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with this kind of situation. All public chairs/seats should be inspected with vigilance and caution before use. A careful visual inspection should be enough. In addition, they ask that each of you pass this message along to all members of your family and your friends of the potential danger.
Recently, one doctor has narrated a somewhat similar instance that happened to one of his patients at the Priya Cinema in Delhi. A young girl, engaged and about to be married in a couple of months, was pricked while the movie was going on. The tag with the needle had the message"
”Welcome to the World of HIV family".
Though the doctors told her family that it takes about 6 months before the virus grows strong enough to start damaging the system and a healthy victim could survive about 5-6 years, the girl died in 4 months, perhaps more because of the "Shock thought". We all have to be careful at public places, rest God help!
Just think about saving a life by forwarding this message. Please, take a few seconds of your time to pass along.
With Regards,
S. Dinesh Gopinath,
I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Div, Chennai.
I don’t mind if you share this message or not to your friends or relatives. I don’t care if after reading this you still don’t take conscious effort to be cautious while in public places. But, I just want to let you know that there are already more than 30 persons in the region who are HIV-affected. I don’t discriminate. But, their number is enough for us to realize that it is not yet too late.
(Send your comments to rogatepnp@yahoo.com or text 09193161190.)