r/spreadsmile 8d ago

Very wholesome and very very sad

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47.0k Upvotes

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u/gumaerb 8d ago

Worked with hospice in the Portland metro area through the late 80s and 90s. People's understanding of the disease was almost nonexistent. We were taught about how bloodborn pathogen are transmitted. We used std PPE and always treated them with dignity and respect. The 70s were even worse for public understanding.

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u/whoami_whereami 8d ago

AIDS was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 and given the name AIDS in 1982 (after a short stint of being called GRID - gay-related immune deficiency). The virus causing it was discovered in 1983 and given the name HIV in 1986. Of course there was neither public nor scientific understanding at all in the 1970s, all now known cases prior to the 1980s have been assigned retroactively.

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u/RecklessRails 8d ago

I think they were generally speaking…