In 1981 an infectious disease researcher at the National institutes of Health started noticing reports that clusters of gay men were being diagnosed with infections that were highly unusual in younger people. It would take a few years before the medical community identified HIV which, left unchecked, can develop into the deadly syndrome known as AIDS. Today, treatments and preventive measures have changed expectations about the disease – and, in the eyes of some, caused undue casualness about prevention. Rita Braver talks with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and with playwright and activist Larry Kramer.
