Those of us who were teens and young adults in the 90s were bombarded by the messaging. One misstep with the wrong partner and you were done for, we heard.

The reality from a statistical standpoint was that heterosexual transmission was extremely rare and statistically almost zero from a single encounter. Even gay male sex had a relatively low probability per single act.

But had the messaging reflected that, there's no telling how bad the epidemic may have gotten in the U.S.