by Special Collections Assistant Mel Frizzell
While we are currently dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic across the world today, back in the 1980s another virus epidemic had people scared – the AIDS (HIV) epidemic. While the COVID-19 is believed to have jumped species from bats to humans, HIV is believed to have jumped from chimpanzees to humans. Similar to COVID-19, HIV first presented itself in 1981 as a rare lung infection. Unlike COVID-19 which is believed to be worst on older generations, HIV was first diagnosed in younger gay men. At the same time, some gay men in New York and California also experienced an aggressive form of cancer. The link between these cases eventually became apparent and in 1981 the disease was dubbed Gay Related Immune Deficiency (GRID). The disease was later linked to IV drug users, hemophiliacs, and Haitians, and by September 1982 the CDC had renamed the disease AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In 1986, the virus that causes AIDS was officially named HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
Because of it’s initial link to gay men and other disenfranchised groups, the disease carried much stigma, even though the disease itself did not discriminate one group from another. Nearly half of all the cases in 1981 ended in death. While no cure was ever found for the disease, contracting HIV is no longer the death sentence it was once considered. There are currently drugs on the market that make living with the disease manageable and also drugs that help prevent its spread.
For anyone looking to learn the history and response of the AIDS epidemic in Hampton Roads, there are several articles in Our Own Community Press. These include articles about the initial rise of the disease, the formation of the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce (TACT), the politics and stigma of AIDS, and even photos of the AIDS quilt that was created to memorialize those who died from the disease.
Archived issues of Our Own Community Press are available in our Digital Special Collections: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown
For a general overview and time line of the AIDS epidemic, the following resource is helpful: https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview