How does the Bangui definition define AIDS?
Fiala: There are two categories of symptoms, major and minor. A patient is given an AIDS diagnosis when they have two major symptoms and one minor symptom. The major symptoms are weight loss, chronic diarrhea and chronic fever. The minor symptoms include coughing and generalized itching. Let me clarify, based on the WHO’s definition, if you have a fever, a cough and diarrhea in Africa, then you have AIDS? Fiala: That’s correct. That seems absurd. Fiala: It is. It’s more absurd when you understand how common these symptoms are in resource-poor settings like sub-Saharan Africa. To begin with, less than 50 percent of Africans have access to safe drinking water. Over 60 percent have no sanitation. Most African villages don’t have sewage systems. Human and animal excrements mix with the water supply. People drink this water and ingest infectious parasites and bacteria. As a result, dysentery is endemic. When your intestines are full of infectious microbes, you’ll likely develop a fever. You
