SciShow has an excellent documentary “The Rise of HIV”, in
two parts, about 21 minutes.
The first part explains how HIV may have jumped species from
a sick monkey in Cameroon in 1908, when natives ate the meat. Eventually, through migration patterns, several
varieties were carried by prostitutes in various parts of Africa, or were
likely spread by reusable syringes in medicine. Because of a complicated migration,
the virus settled in Haiti in the 1960s. It is though to have entered the
United States in 1969 (Randy Shilts had written 1976, the Tall Ships, in “And
the Band Played On”.) But it took more than ten years to affect the gay male
community. There was a particular incident
in 1978, my last year in New York City, where I think I might have had a narrow
miss.
The second video explains how the drugs to control HIV
developed, starting with HIV and leading to the protease inhibitors, which have
to be taken in combination to avoid the mutations, and they have to be taken
faithfully. The film discussed PrEP.
Some people have different surface protein markers on their T4 cells, called
CCR5, which makes it harder for them to be infected, which may explain why
sometimes partners of people who died never became infected.
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