Thursday, July 28, 2011

What was going on with HIV/AIDS in the 1980's? Did people know about it? Were they using protection

What was going on with HIV/AIDS in the 1980's? Did people know about it? Were they using protection?
What about the gay community in the 1980's? Were the using protection? Did they know about HIV?
STDs - 2 Answers
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1 :
No, in the 80s, the firsts cases of this disease were not known. People were not using protection because they didn't know what was going on. Some said there was some sort of "gay cancer" because firsts cases were discovered between gay community. When AIDS was discovered it was too late for a lot of people. When heterosexual people began to have AIDS they understood that these disease was not a gay one
2 :
The first cases of the virus were identified in 1981 by the CDC in five gay men. This was reported in the New York Times and other national news outlets. At the time, these men had low immune systems, but the actual cause was unknown. It was not until 1983 that the virus was isolated. Once it was identified, it was studied. Blood tests to identify the virus were developed and studies showed how the virus could and could not be transmitted. For a period of time, no one was sure condoms could protect against the virus. People continued to have sex; some were more cautious and others were not. Most people knew about the disease since the news covered the disease but often focused on the three major risk groups of the time: gay men, IV drug users, and hemophiliacs.

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