Discordant couples

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 25 Jul 2009 22:37 GMT

While browsing a list of medical news reports looking for Swine Flu
items I came across the phrase "discordant couples" in the one-sentence
summary of an article on a different disease topic:

The anti-herpes drug acyclovir (Zovirax) failed to prevent
transmission of HIV among discordant couples

I had to read the article to confirm the meaning of the phrase:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/IAS/15242

... discordant couples -- one of whom is HIV-positive and the other
uninfected by the virus that causes AIDS -- ...

The phrases "discordant couples" and "concordant couples" appear to be
used in discussions of certain viruses that can be sexually transmitted,
HIV and Herpes, for example.

I have never met these phrases before.

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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John Dean - 25 Jul 2009 23:33 GMT

> While browsing a list of medical news reports looking for Swine Flu
> items I came across the phrase "discordant couples" in the
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> I have never met these phrases before.

Allow me ...

'discordant couples', 'concordant couples' this is Peter
Peter, this is 'discordant couples' and 'concordant couples'

Play nice

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John Dean
Oxford

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 25 Jul 2009 23:53 GMT

>> While browsing a list of medical news reports looking for Swine Flu
>> items I came across the phrase "discordant couples" in the
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>'discordant couples', 'concordant couples' this is Peter
>Peter, this is 'discordant couples' and 'concordant couples'

Thank you.

>Play nice

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Martin Crossley - 26 Jul 2009 01:21 GMT

AKA sero-discordant or serodiscordant and sero-concordant or seroconcordant.
Martin.

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Garrett Wollman - 26 Jul 2009 06:04 GMT

>I had to read the article to confirm the meaning of the phrase:
>http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/IAS/15242
>
> ... discordant couples -- one of whom is HIV-positive and the other
> uninfected by the virus that causes AIDS -- ...

Ooh, it's Elongated Yellow Fruit Syndrome!

-GAWollman

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Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wollman@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

Discordant couples