Do vampires get AIDS?

mohd_ismail21
By mohd_ismail21

Do vampires get AIDS?

By _noms_• 28 Apr 2009 07:30
_noms_

Dont be scared,, your last bite to a person sufferring from AIDs wont effect u..!! all the best..!!

By joe90• 28 Apr 2009 07:28
joe90

Yes they can catch Aids but they can't die from Aids. Only a stake through the heart will kill a vampire.

By cynie• 28 Apr 2009 06:21
cynie

wow! if ever vampires get AIDS,it will be an additional attribute to them,TO MUTATE (into a virus) & MULTIPLY,swift.

By richard goma• 26 Apr 2009 18:21
richard goma

vampires are now aware of AIDS so they now utilise modern techniques to avoid being contaminated

By zhyiellha• 26 Apr 2009 15:16
zhyiellha

No such Incident was being Reported in the WORLD AIDS ORGANIZATION.. SO Therefore, Vampires doesn't have any of these cases..!!!! research, research , research.... Lets watch Underworld-the Rise of the Lycans...maybe, we can get some info's there also....LOL

By sutcliffemd• 26 Apr 2009 14:13
sutcliffemd

Well, I would say that unless the vampire has any cuts, ulcers in/around his/her mouth/oesophagus/stomach, the stomach acids would neutralize the virus.

Having said that, even if they did get it, I doubt they would care because seeing as they are technically dead, and have no immune system to be compromised, they would remain unaffected.

Case closed :-)

By KINGOFHEARTS• 26 Apr 2009 13:56
KINGOFHEARTS

May be or may be not! :P

By xeena• 26 Apr 2009 13:43
xeena

A very long story zhyiellh.

What is the conclusion ???

By zhyiellha• 26 Apr 2009 13:07
zhyiellha

LOL.... hmmm Lets go to Europe... we can ask them....

Folk beliefs

The notion of vampirism has existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demons and spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. However, despite the occurrence of vampire-like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity we know today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early 18th century Southeastern Europe,[1] when verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but they can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or by being bitten by a vampire. Belief in such legends became so pervasive that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires.[20]

Description and common attributes

Vampyren "The Vampire," by Edvard Munch

It is difficult to make a single, definitive description of the folkloric vampire, though there are several elements common to many European legends. Vampires were usually reported as bloated in appearance, and ruddy, purplish, or dark in colour; these characteristics were often attributed to the recent drinking of blood. Indeed, blood was often seen seeping from the mouth and nose when one was seen in its shroud or coffin and its left eye was often open.[21] It would be clad in the linen shroud it was buried in, and its teeth, hair, and nails may have grown somewhat, though in general fangs were not a feature.[22]

Other attributes varied greatly from culture to culture; some vampires, such as those found in Transylvanian tales, were gaunt, pale, and had long fingernails, while those from Bulgaria only had one nostril,[23] and Bavarian vampires slept with thumbs crossed and one eye open.[24] Moravian vampires only attacked while naked, and those of Albanian folklore wore high-heeled shoes.[24] As stories of vampires spread throughout the globe to the Americas and elsewhere, so did the varied and sometimes bizarre descriptions of them: Mexican vampires had a bare skull instead of a head,[24] Brazilian vampires had furry feet and vampires from the Rocky Mountains only sucked blood with their noses and from the victim's ears.[24] Common attributes were sometimes described, such as red hair.[24] Some were reported to be able to transform into bats, rats, dogs, wolves, spiders and even moths.[25] From these various legends, works of literature such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the influences of historical bloodthirsty figures such as Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Báthory, and Vlad Ţepeş, the vampire developed into the modern stereotype.[20][24]

Creating vampires

The causes of vampiric generation were many and varied in original folklore. In Slavic and Chinese traditions, any corpse which was jumped over by an animal, particularly a dog or a cat, was feared to become one of the undead.[26] A body with a wound which had not been treated with boiling water was also at risk. In Russian folklore, vampires were said to have once been witches or people who had rebelled against the Church while they were alive.[24]

Cultural practices often arose that were intended to prevent a recently deceased loved one from turning into an undead revenant. Burying a corpse upside-down was widespread, as was placing earthly objects, such as scythes or sickles,[27] near the grave to satisfy any demons entering the body or to appease the dead so that it would not wish to arise from its coffin. This method resembles the Ancient Greek practice of placing an obolus in the corpse's mouth to pay the toll to cross the River Styx in the underworld; it has been argued that instead, the coin was intended to ward off any evil spirits from entering the body, and this may have influenced later vampire folklore. This tradition persisted in modern Greek folklore about the vrykolakas, in which a wax cross and piece of pottery with the inscription "Jesus Christ conquers" were placed on the corpse to prevent the body from becoming a vampire.[28] Other methods commonly practised in Europe included severing the tendons at the knees or placing poppy seeds, millet, or sand on the ground at the grave site of a presumed vampire; this was intended to keep the vampire occupied all night by counting the fallen grains.[29] Similar Chinese narratives state that if a vampire-like being came across a sack of rice, it would have to count every grain; this is a theme encountered in myths from the Indian subcontinent as well as in South American tales of witches and other sorts of evil or mischievous spirits or beings.[30]

Identifying vampires

Many elaborate rituals were used to identify a vampire. One method of finding a vampire's grave involved leading a virgin boy through a graveyard or church grounds on a virgin stallion—the horse would supposedly balk at the grave in question.[24] Generally a black horse was required, though in Albania it should be white.[31] Holes appearing in the earth over a grave were taken as a sign of vampirism.[32]

Corpses thought to be vampires were generally described as having a healthier appearance than expected, plump and showing little or no signs of decomposition.[33] In some cases, when suspected graves were opened, villagers even described the corpse as having fresh blood from a victim all over its face.[34] Evidence that a vampire was active in a given locality included death of cattle, sheep, relatives or neighbours. Folkloric vampires could also make their presence felt by engaging in minor poltergeist-like activity, such as hurling stones on roofs or moving household objects,[35] and pressing on people in their sleep.[36]

Protection

An image from Max Ernst's Une Semaine de Bonté

Apotropaics—mundane or sacred items able to ward off revenants—such as garlic[37] or holy water are common in vampire folklore. The items vary from region to region; a branch of wild rose and hawthorn plant are said to harm vampires; in Europe, sprinkling mustard seeds on the roof of a house was said to keep them away.[38] Other apotropaics include sacred items, for example a crucifix, rosary, or holy water. Vampires are said to be unable to walk on consecrated ground, such as those of churches or temples, or cross running water.[39] Although not traditionally regarded as an apotropaic, mirrors have been used to ward off vampires when placed facing outwards on a door (in some cultures, vampires do not have a reflection and sometimes do not cast a shadow, perhaps as a manifestation of the vampire's lack of a soul).[40] This attribute, although not universal (the Greek vrykolakas/tympanios was capable of both reflection and shadow), was utilized by Bram Stoker in Dracula and has remained popular with subsequent authors and filmmakers.[41] Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner, although after the first invitation they can come and go as they please.[40] Though folkloric vampires were believed to be more active at night, they were not generally considered vulnerable to sunlight.[41]

Methods of destroying suspected vampires varied, with staking the most commonly cited method, particularly in southern Slavic cultures.[42] Ash was the preferred wood in Russia and the Baltic states,[43] or hawthorn in Serbia,[44] with a record of oak in Silesia.[45] Potential vampires were most often staked though the heart, though the mouth was targeted in Russia and northern Germany[46][47] and the stomach in northeastern Serbia.[48] Piercing the skin of the chest was a way of "deflating" the bloated vampire; this is similar to the act of burying sharp objects, such as sickles, in with the corpse, so that they may penetrate the skin if the body bloats sufficiently while transforming into a revenant.[49] Decapitation was the preferred method in German and western Slavic areas, with the head buried between the feet, behind the buttocks or away from the body.[50] This act was seen as a way of hastening the departure of the soul, which in some cultures, was said to linger in the corpse. The vampire's head, body, or clothes could also be spiked and pinned to the earth to prevent rising.[51] Gypsies drove steel or iron needles into a corpse's heart and placed bits of steel in the mouth, over the eyes, ears and between the fingers at the time of burial. They also placed hawthorn in the corpse's sock or drove a hawthorn stake through the legs. In a 16th-century burial near Venice, a brick forced into the mouth of a female corpse has been interpreted as a vampire-slaying ritual by the archaeologists who discovered it in 2006.[52] Further measures included pouring boiling water over the grave or complete incineration of the body. In the Balkans a vampire could also be killed by being shot or drowned, by repeating the funeral service, by sprinkling holy water on the body, or by exorcism. In Romania garlic could be placed in the mouth, and as recently as the 19th century, the precaution of shooting a bullet through the coffin was taken. For resistant cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and administered to family members as a cure. In Saxon regions of Germany, a lemon was placed in the mouth of suspected vampires.[53]

Ancient beliefs

Lilith (1892), by John Collier

Tales of supernatural beings consuming the blood or flesh of the living have been found in nearly every culture around the world for many centuries.[54] Today we would associate these entities with vampires, but in ancient times, the term vampire did not exist; blood drinking and similar activities were attributed to demons or spirits who would eat flesh and drink blood; even the devil was considered synonymous with the vampire.[55] Almost every nation has associated blood drinking with some kind of revenant or demon, or in some cases a deity. In India, for example, tales of vetalas, ghoul-like beings that inhabit corpses, have been compiled in the Baital Pachisi; a prominent story in the Kathasaritsagara tells of King Vikramāditya and his nightly quests to capture an elusive one.[56] Pishacha, the returned spirits of evil-doers or those who died insane, also bear vampiric attributes.[57] The Ancient Indian goddess Kali, with fangs and a garland of corpses or skulls, was also intimately linked with the drinking of blood.[58] In Egypt, the goddess Sekhmet drank blood.

The Persians were one of the first civilizations to have tales of blood-drinking demons: creatures attempting to drink blood from men were depicted on excavated pottery shards.[59] Ancient Babylonia had tales of the mythical Lilitu,[60] synonymous with and giving rise to Lilith (Hebrew לילית) and her daughters the Lilu from Hebrew demonology. Lilitu was considered a demon and was often depicted as subsisting on the blood of babies. However, the Jewish counterparts were said to feast on both men and women, as well as newborns.[60]

Ancient Greek and Roman mythology described the Empusae,[61] Lamia,[62] and the striges. Over time the first two terms became general words to describe witches and demons respectively. Empusa was the daughter of the goddess Hecate and was described as a demonic, bronze-footed creature. She feasted on blood by transforming into a young woman and seduced men as they slept before drinking their blood.[61] Lamia preyed on young children in their beds at night, sucking their blood.[62] Like Lamia, the striges, feasted on children, but also preyed on young men. They were described as having the bodies of crows or birds in general, and were later incorporated into Roman mythology as strix, a kind of nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood.[63]

By liferocks• 26 Apr 2009 12:30
liferocks

sure... n they do get tooth infection too

By Naveen4• 26 Apr 2009 12:23
Naveen4

It looks like some mythical question ,

but let me answer on something i know.

AIDS does not spread through mere drinking of someone's blood as AIDS virus dies when it comes in contact of air.

Yes u can get AIDS through blood transfusion, from heriditary , from sex with infected person

i dont know whether vampires exists or not but AIDS does.

By chri• 26 Apr 2009 12:15
chri

Are there any of them like to meet me?

By chunglai• 26 Apr 2009 12:09
chunglai

its true, that is why there are no more vampires around..

By ollie• 26 Apr 2009 12:04
ollie

I have heard about that rumour and I know there's a truth behind that rumour.

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