6 ms·

This is the first New York Times article reporting on what would later be known as the AIDS epidemic. Edit: Here's the takeaway quote, in my opinion: "Cancer i

This is the first New York Times article reporting on what would later be known as the AIDS epidemic. Edit: Here's the takeaway quote, in my opinion: "Cancer is not believed to be contagious, but conditions that might precipitate it, such as particular viruses or environmental factors, might account for an outbreak among a single group." Edit2: "Dr. Curran said there was no apparent danger to nonhomosexuals from contagion.'"

kmfrk 13y ago
Even today, people have a very poor understanding on how you can - rather can't - contract it from HIV+ people, alas. (Not saying that HIV==AIDS.) http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv-aids/ http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv... If an HIV+ person sneezes in an elevator, some will have a panic attack, I reckon. Not to mention the travel bans some countries impose. 1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/hiv-travel-ban-lifted-by_n_340109.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/hiv-travel-ban-lift... 2) http://plwha.org/ http://plwha.org/ 3) http://www.unaids.org/en/targetsandcommitments/eliminatingtravelrestrictions/ http://www.unaids.org/en/targetsandcommitments/eliminatingtr... Still much work to be done in informing people, so let this be an opportunity to ask your friends and family whether they know their facts on the matter, as HIV+ people are treated like lepers oftentimes. Bonus trivia for reading along this far: Andrew Sullivan is HIV+. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan#Personal_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan#Personal_life
- seiji 13y ago
  (Not saying that HIV==AIDS.) Why make that disclaimer?
  - snowwrestler 13y ago
    Not everyone who is HIV-positive develops AIDS.
    - jaggederest 13y ago
      As an example, Magic Johnson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson#HIV_activism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson#HIV_activism
    - akiselev 13y ago
      Actually, I think the going medical opinion is that, except for new mutated strains (and they'd have to be heavily mutated), anyone who contracts HIV today is never going to develop AIDS if they have access to modern treatment options (for the rest of their life).
      - snowwrestler 13y ago
        Some people who are HIV positive never develop AIDS even without drugs.
  - kmfrk 13y ago
    It's an important distinction - and a mistake that many make - but more than anything, I didn't want some asshat to derail the message of my comment by nitpicking about this to appear smart and insightful. This sometimes happens, unfortunately. Even I can't remember the details, but for anyone whose curiosity has been picqued, this explains it well: http://www.aids.org/topics/aids-faqs/difference-between-hiv-and-aids/ http://www.aids.org/topics/aids-faqs/difference-between-hiv-....
    - seiji 13y ago
      Ah, got it. At first I thought you were one of those crazy people saying AIDS isn't caused by HIV.
      - kmfrk 13y ago
        Those people exist? This world, man ...
        seiji 13y ago
        They show up here every so often: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5317157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5317157 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231238 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231238 There's even a wikipedia page with a horrible URL that made me think wikipedia suddenly had hierarchical categories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_denialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_denialism Gotta keep speaking truth to crazy.
        mikeash 13y ago
        Some people have a strong contrarian streak which naturally leads them toward the minority position on many controversial subjects. It's often the exact same people saying that AIDS isn't caused by HIV, that global warming is a fraud, that oil reserves are infinite, that evolution is impossible, etc. etc. I've witnessed this firsthand. I can't explain why they are this way, but it looks like a general attitude of "the popular opinion is more likely to be wrong than right".
  - mikeash 13y ago
    I suspect you're thinking it's a concession to conspiracy theorists who think that AIDS is caused by something other than HIV. At least, that was my initial reaction. But it's true that they are not the same, because AIDS is the syndrome you develop due to having HIV, but they don't happen at the same time, and AIDS can be put off indefinitely in a person with HIV using modern treatment.
- tshaddox 13y ago
  The travel bans constitute inappropriate discrimination in my opinion, but they don't imply a misunderstanding of AIDS transmission. People can travel to a country and have sex there.

kmfrk 13y ago

Even today, people have a very poor understanding on how you can - rather can't - contract it from HIV+ people, alas. (Not saying that HIV==AIDS.) http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv-aids/ http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv... If an HIV+ person sneezes in an elevator, some will have a panic attack, I reckon. Not to mention the travel bans some countries impose. 1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/hiv-travel-ban-lifted-by_n_340109.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/hiv-travel-ban-lift... 2) http://plwha.org/ http://plwha.org/ 3) http://www.unaids.org/en/targetsandcommitments/eliminatingtravelrestrictions/ http://www.unaids.org/en/targetsandcommitments/eliminatingtr... Still much work to be done in informing people, so let this be an opportunity to ask your friends and family whether they know their facts on the matter, as HIV+ people are treated like lepers oftentimes. Bonus trivia for reading along this far: Andrew Sullivan is HIV+. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan#Personal_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan#Personal_life

seiji 13y ago
(Not saying that HIV==AIDS.) Why make that disclaimer?
- snowwrestler 13y ago
  Not everyone who is HIV-positive develops AIDS.
  - jaggederest 13y ago
    As an example, Magic Johnson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson#HIV_activism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson#HIV_activism
  - akiselev 13y ago
    Actually, I think the going medical opinion is that, except for new mutated strains (and they'd have to be heavily mutated), anyone who contracts HIV today is never going to develop AIDS if they have access to modern treatment options (for the rest of their life).
    - snowwrestler 13y ago
      Some people who are HIV positive never develop AIDS even without drugs.
- kmfrk 13y ago
  It's an important distinction - and a mistake that many make - but more than anything, I didn't want some asshat to derail the message of my comment by nitpicking about this to appear smart and insightful. This sometimes happens, unfortunately. Even I can't remember the details, but for anyone whose curiosity has been picqued, this explains it well: http://www.aids.org/topics/aids-faqs/difference-between-hiv-and-aids/ http://www.aids.org/topics/aids-faqs/difference-between-hiv-....
  - seiji 13y ago
    Ah, got it. At first I thought you were one of those crazy people saying AIDS isn't caused by HIV.
    - kmfrk 13y ago
      Those people exist? This world, man ...
      - seiji 13y ago
        They show up here every so often: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5317157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5317157 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231238 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231238 There's even a wikipedia page with a horrible URL that made me think wikipedia suddenly had hierarchical categories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_denialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_denialism Gotta keep speaking truth to crazy.
        mikeash 13y ago
        Some people have a strong contrarian streak which naturally leads them toward the minority position on many controversial subjects. It's often the exact same people saying that AIDS isn't caused by HIV, that global warming is a fraud, that oil reserves are infinite, that evolution is impossible, etc. etc. I've witnessed this firsthand. I can't explain why they are this way, but it looks like a general attitude of "the popular opinion is more likely to be wrong than right".
- mikeash 13y ago
  I suspect you're thinking it's a concession to conspiracy theorists who think that AIDS is caused by something other than HIV. At least, that was my initial reaction. But it's true that they are not the same, because AIDS is the syndrome you develop due to having HIV, but they don't happen at the same time, and AIDS can be put off indefinitely in a person with HIV using modern treatment.
tshaddox 13y ago
The travel bans constitute inappropriate discrimination in my opinion, but they don't imply a misunderstanding of AIDS transmission. People can travel to a country and have sex there.