Coronavirus vs HIV

[Puppylucky]

This is not trying to start a bun fight, but being old enough to remember HIV in its ferocious initial effect I think has really given me a different perspective on Covid. At 20 I was presented with information and a govt campaign that told me that the most basic instinct of life was fatal and I watched cultural icons die in a horrible and stigmatised way. But life continued. We took the risks that the young do and life was a bleaker for a while (read Rupert Everett's first autobiography for details) but eventually things changed for the better and HIV positive is no longer a death sentence.
Fast forward 30 years and the world has shut down over a virus with a much lower death rate. Seriously what am I missing?

you cant compare the 2

Seriously what am I missing?

That they are transmitted entirely differently.

A condom doesn't protect against coronavirus.

I wonder what happened to the trials on HIV medication as a potential preventative or (early pre hospitalisation) stage treatment for Covid. Anyone know?
It would be interesting to know how many HIV positive patients (who are medicated) were hospitalised or died?

You couldn't catch HIV on a bus or in the frozen food aisle whilst shopping though.

A much faster transmission rate and a virus which you can’t avoid.

Seriously? You can’t see the difference?

No one gave a shit about gay men then.

The number of deaths from AIDS (in the UK) was never higher than 2000 in any one year (peaking in the early 1990s) whereas there have already been more than 41,000 deaths from coronavirus and it will undoubtedly be higher by the end of the year.

Transmission of Covid 19 and HIV simply can't be compared! I still remember the fear when HIIV / Aids first became known - it was a death sentence until treatments became available.

Seriously what am I missing?

Any sort of thought regarding transmission 🤷🏻‍♀️

Completely incomparable circumstances

Oh and it was considered the gay disease so no one in authority cared

@Puppylucky

This is not trying to start a bun fight, but being old enough to remember HIV in its ferocious initial effect I think has really given me a different perspective on Covid. At 20 I was presented with information and a govt campaign that told me that the most basic instinct of life was fatal and I watched cultural icons die in a horrible and stigmatised way. But life continued. We took the risks that the young do and life was a bleaker for a while (read Rupert Everett's first autobiography for details) but eventually things changed for the better and HIV positive is no longer a death sentence. Fast forward 30 years and the world has shut down over a virus with a much lower death rate. Seriously what am I missing?

Plenty of us "shut down" the possibility of sex without a condom because of HIV.

I was mulling this over after watching Howard on Disney Plus. Considering the differences and what it was like to live through early media HIV / Aids coverage in the late 80s. Could mosquitoes carry it? A heterosexual non drug taking woman was HIV+: the headline was is no one safe?

Actually a family member who works in Pharma said to me that while we’re all hoping for an effective Covid vaccine, he thought it would be more likely that it would echo the hunt for HIV treatment - we would end up with a suite of treatments to manage it, rather than a silver bullet

‘the most basic human instinct’. I guess I’m the only one who likes to breathe, drink and eat..

What is interesting about your comparison is that when AIDs first started ravaging the gay community in NY the majority of attitudes were the same as covid deniers.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

I was young during HIV. It was transmitted through blood. We didn't touch anything back then, hand hygiene was a must. I still remember the rule not to push paper towels down in a waste bin to make more room in case there was an infected needle in the bin. We were all terrified. But we knew how it was transmitted and it was easier to keep safe.

HIV isn’t fucking airborne or spread the same way is It! Jaysis 😂 what a ridiculous statement

"What am I missing?"

The screamingly obvious difference in transmission is what you're looking for. It hurts to interact with people this dim sometimes.

I have a feeling that if 50,000+ people were dead within 6 months of HIV being discovered, things would have shut down very quickly.

I can't help imagine an alternative universe where people are shagging in the frozen food aisle now.

Unfortunately most of you are missing the point. Originally HIV was believed to be air and contact borne - any one remember what a big deal it was when Princess Diana shook hands with an HIV victim? Any one remember the boy who was excluded from school because he was HIV positive via a blood transplant? In the early days people were totally hysterical about how (and how easily) HIV could be transmitted. All you armchair medics do your reading! .

Op surely you see the difference? It's much harder to catch hiv. It's a very different illness.

@Puppylucky

Unfortunately most of you are missing the point. Originally HIV was believed to be air and contact borne - any one remember what a big deal it was when Princess Diana shook hands with an HIV victim? Any one remember the boy who was excluded from school because he was HIV positive via a blood transplant? In the early days people were totally hysterical about how (and how easily) HIV could be transmitted. All you armchair medics do your reading! .

It still wasn't as rampant in the sense of how many it effected. I'm sure there are some comparisons in the early days, but this has gone past it now. It's clearly a different thing entirely. Look how quickly it spread around the world?

You really shouldn't be getting complacent.

@megletthesecond

I can't help imagine an alternative universe where people are shagging in the frozen food aisle now.

😆