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RKP5637

(67,112 posts)

14. Yep, same here. When I was a kid about the worse was gonorrhea and crabs!

Thu Oct 2, 2014, 09:26 AM

Oct 2014

Last edited Thu Oct 2, 2014, 10:00 AM - Edit history (1)

The dreaded one was syphilis, but that seemed very rare. Now, I think there are something like 22 STD's. When AIDS came along, that really made me also view sex with others as an extremely scary prospect.

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Anyone else who was around back in 1980 during the first AIDS crisis having deja vu now [View all] hedgehog Oct 2014 OP

thats exactly right..way overhyped sailfla Oct 2014 #1

You think the AIDS crisis was overhyped? cbayer Oct 2014 #32

Early on, yes it was. There was talk of people getting AIDS just from being in the same room, yellowcanine Oct 2014 #48

Sorry, but I totally disagree with this. cbayer Oct 2014 #50

It was attention the wrong way. Gays, drug injectors, Haitians were the targets. uppityperson Oct 2014 #51

That happened later. cbayer Oct 2014 #52

Your posts on this topic have been excellent. And I really appreciate them Number23 Oct 2014 #75

I was a young nurse Mojorabbit Oct 2014 #76

I did something stupid unthinkingly as a youngish nurse back when universal precautions uppityperson Oct 2014 #77

I also worked well before universal precautions were the norm Mojorabbit Oct 2014 #82

You are wrong. Well after the modes of transmission were known there was outrageous AIDs phobia. yellowcanine Oct 2014 #54

We are just talking past each other here. cbayer Oct 2014 #56

Yeah, I think the two of you are looking at different parts of the elephant jberryhill Oct 2014 #78

I think you put that exactly right. cbayer Oct 2014 #81

I remember strawberries Oct 2014 #55

I remember when there was a lot of press about Donna Mills refusing valerief Oct 2014 #59

actually a lot of people thought you had to be extremely promiscuous and "dirty" to get it.... bettyellen Oct 2014 #73

The AIDS outbreak triggered some really awful homophobia The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2014 #2

It didn't trigger homophobia in me, but... tridim Oct 2014 #7

Yep, same here. When I was a kid about the worse was gonorrhea and crabs! RKP5637 Oct 2014 #14

I remember so well it being called the "gay disease," that only LGBT could catch it. It was RKP5637 Oct 2014 #12

it also halted, for a time, progress on LGBT civil rights . . . markpkessinger Oct 2014 #79

I thought about that very thing yesterday... LanternWaste Oct 2014 #3

I was listening to a story on NPR from Africa about the people who remove the bodies of mucifer Oct 2014 #4

They died touching the suit? I suppose someone has verified this, right? It doesn't sound right. randome Oct 2014 #6

They died because they were removing the bodies from ebola victims mucifer Oct 2014 #11

It would seem there should be some type of decontamination process to clean the suit before RKP5637 Oct 2014 #17

Someone must have been in a hurry, maybe got too hot. They do spray the suits with bleach before LiberalArkie Oct 2014 #21

Yep, probably what happened. It seems the buildup of heat in the suits could be incredible. n/t RKP5637 Oct 2014 #24

You mean GRIDS, don't you? johnp3907 Oct 2014 #5

Ah, weren't the old days just great? hedgehog Oct 2014 #10

Jon Stewart had a good bit last night about the media ramping up the fear. tanyev Oct 2014 #8

Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Asiatic Flu, Unameit Flu........... TheCowsCameHome Oct 2014 #9

I remember the Hong Kong flu of 1968-69 Art_from_Ark Oct 2014 #72

My experience with the AIDS crisis was a lot different. LuvNewcastle Oct 2014 #13

Thank you for the testimony! Lots of straight people didn't give a damn about AIDS hedgehog Oct 2014 #16

There were over 20,000 Americans dead and another 50,000 infected before Reagan even spoke a Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #29

I'm a straight woman, and I remember reading about "the gay cancer" in valerief Oct 2014 #33

There was so much wrong during those times Marrah_G Oct 2014 #58

Sometimes, I think it's endemic to humans to not care a lot as long as it's someone else, some RKP5637 Oct 2014 #28

Blood transfusions HockeyMom Oct 2014 #40

I remember back then (early on) newfie11 Oct 2014 #15

me too newfie irisblue Oct 2014 #64

We're you in Rad Therapy newfie11 Oct 2014 #65

yep, from radiology to Rad. Therapy irisblue Oct 2014 #66

You bet newfie11 Oct 2014 #68

Except Reagan was actively dismissing AIDS as a gay disease... SidDithers Oct 2014 #18

It can be argued that it is not our responsibility to take care of the world, hedgehog Oct 2014 #19

An epidemic is most efficiently controlled at the source... SidDithers Oct 2014 #20

And Elizabeth Dole did not want to spend the pennies to test the blood supply for HIV when she LiberalArkie Oct 2014 #22

Exactly. There were people impeding public health measures... SidDithers Oct 2014 #23

OTOH, there were people who thought that the Red Cross didn't want to know hedgehog Oct 2014 #25

Dithers wins the thread. The differences between what Reagan did then and what Obama is doing now Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #26

+1 n/t FSogol Oct 2014 #31

+1 Johonny Oct 2014 #36

Aids was a mystery at the beginning Renew Deal Oct 2014 #27

No, not at all. cbayer Oct 2014 #30

Was just about to say the same Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #34

Where you in NYC? cbayer Oct 2014 #35

I was in NYC '84-'85 Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #37

I was in NYC when it first hit in 1981. cbayer Oct 2014 #38

Ryan White applied to re enter school in 1985. Rock Hudson also died in 1985. July. Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #57

True, those both happened as i was leaving Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #80

I was working in a blood lab. hunter Oct 2014 #39

I was already an adult and I remember it well. SheilaT Oct 2014 #41

People thought you could get HIV from toilet seats. MADem Oct 2014 #42

I remember people being afraid to hug my cousin-in-law Marrah_G Oct 2014 #60

Except we have a prez willing to confront it. JaneyVee Oct 2014 #43

Yup. "OMg, close the borders to anyone from Liberia, etc", being afraid to go to San Diego, etc uppityperson Oct 2014 #44

I remember that time but paid little attention to it. n/t RebelOne Oct 2014 #45

There is a great deal of misinformation running rampant Marrah_G Oct 2014 #46

I was just thinking about this at lunch justiceischeap Oct 2014 #47

wow, really? that is wonderful about your cousin!!! Marrah_G Oct 2014 #61

I remember jokes about gay Haitian orthodontists bklyncowgirl Oct 2014 #49

LOL! I deleted a post that was getting to that very point. Baitball Blogger Oct 2014 #53

The 1st aids pt I had was in his 60's gwheezie Oct 2014 #62

We have an etiology for ebola; we didn't for AIDS back then Recursion Oct 2014 #63

Me! I was in the thick of it. I watched a pulmonologist refuse to treat an HIV patient. Avalux Oct 2014 #67

Little bit Prophet 451 Oct 2014 #69

Nope, and I don't see any valid reason to compare Jenoch Oct 2014 #70

no, it's actually the opposite, there is the usual ignorance but we get that with most JI7 Oct 2014 #71

I was thinking more of the fear about getting the disease than about the manner in which it hedgehog Oct 2014 #74

Yeah, a little bit, to be honest. closeupready Oct 2014 #83