Viruses

In the early 80's, some of my blood was used to verify the accuracy of the HIV antibody test. No, I am negative. I was part of the control group. Before they even knew that HIV caused AIDS, researchers from New York City came to Cornell, where I was getting my Ph. D, to conduct a study on a group of gay men who did not live in a big city. We were the control group in a larger study that compared us to gay men from large cities. Cornell is located in Ithaca, NY, a 4 hour drive from New York City, in the middle of rural, upstate New York, an hour from the nearest interstate.

Every three months a team of doctors collected 13 test tubes of blood, plus samples of urine, saliva, stool, and, yes, semen. Two semen samples each time, collected an hour apart, kept sterile, and refrigerated until delivery. There was a page and half of instructions on how to collect the semen samples. I had multiple offers to help.

The researchers took the samples back to their labs in New York and conducted who-knows-what tests on them. If they ever found something unusual, they would let you know during their next visit.

On their next visit, they told me, "Chris, you've never had chicken pox."

"Oh, really? Is there a vaccine?"

In the early 80's, no vaccine was available, though there is one today.

Two weeks later, I was having a great time at a going away party for a friend of mine. We were playing charades. The kids at the party would whisper the clues in everyone's ears. Midway through the party, the host said, "oh, by the way, my kids have chicken pox. I hope nobody minds."

Two weeks after the party, it was Cornell graduation day at the end of May. I wasn't graduating for another six months, though I had accepted a position on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. The weather was beautiful, not too hot and a perfectly clear sky. Walking past the football stadium where the ceremony was held, I just didn't feel right. Sometimes I get allergies which give me a headache, so I went home, took some pills, and went to bed early.

I woke up at midnight and could feel a fever coming on. When I went to the bathroom, I saw a festering red bump in the middle of my forehead, right between my eyes, oozing a clear yellowish liquid. Oh yeah, I was exposed to chicken pox. Oh well.

When I woke up the next morning a swarm of pox had marched down my forehead, marking my face, neck, arms, chest and back. My legs were next. At the height of the horror, I had pox on every identifiable body part. No semen samples that week.

My fever raged at 102 for over 5 days. I would take a pill to reduce the fever, but when the fever broke, I would awaken lying in a puddle of sweat. The sheets were not merely soaking wet. It was a pool, as if the roof had leaked into my bed. I had to change the sheets at least twice a day.

The disease is highly contagious, so I was quarantined in my apartment. My poor roommate, Scott, came home to his pox-coated roommate greeting him at the door. Scott didn't know if he had chicken pox before, so for two weeks, he worried he might get it (luckily he didn't).

You're warned not to scratch; otherwise you leave permanent scars, but the itch is irresistable. I poured bottles of calamine lotion over my head to try to control it, but still ended up with a few scars.

On the worst day of the entire ordeal, in the evening, I dragged myself out of bed to watch Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News. In his distinctive baritone, he intoned:

"The University of Pennsylvania today announced the development of a chicken pox vaccine. It will be available in 2 to 3 years."

In a few more days, the fever broke, the pox scabbed over, and I was able to get out of the house. I hadn't shaved in a week; in fact I ended up growing a beard because it was impossible to shave with all those scabs on my face.

I learned a lot about humanity when I was finally able to end the quarantine. As I walked down the street people would obviously cross to the other side to avoid this scabrous spectacle.

Because of this ordeal, I learned first-hand the power of viruses. These tiny bits of DNA and RNA possess such power. I thought I was going to die. lesson I learned made me very cautious. It's one reason why I am still HIV negative.