Joe Lynn was part of San Francisco’s gay community during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. Lynn endured several bedside vigils, and lost those he cared for to a disease that was still an untreatable mystery.

Lynn was diagnosed in 1996, fortuitously the same year the protease inhibitor (drugs that block the protease enzyme), a milestone in treatment, was introduced.

Success stories like his have become more common but some health experts said the flip side of that coin is that the killer disease image of HIV and AIDS may be waning, possibly leading to a less fearful attitude among the public. According to a 2001 Gallup poll, only 7 percent of the respondents viewed AIDS as the greatest health threat facing the nation, compared with 70 percent in 1987.

San Francisco AIDS Foundation Spokesman, Reg Norton said that the impact of the 1980s epidemic does not completely register with today’s young generation who has the advantage of living in a time with treatment options.

“Those in their early 20’s were just babies at the time,” he said. “Educating is an ongoing process.”

Overtime, the image of AIDS as less of a threat may leave more people at chance.

“When people lose their fear of HIV, it becomes a danger and people may take more risks,” said health educator Alberto Angelo.

Since the mid 1990’s and the advent of the protease inhibitor, combination therapies have kept AIDS at bay for some of those with HIV. In many cases, including former basketball star Magic Johnson’s public battle, the virus has become undetectable, which is now the goal of treatment, according to The Body, an online AIDS informational resource.

“I am a poster boy for the medication,” said Lynn of the efficacy of his HIV treatment drugs. His daily ritual entails two combination therapy pills, morning and evening, which he sets out on his dresser each day. The 60-year-old former attorney currently has no symptoms or drug side effects to complain of.

In the event that he does feel ill, Lynn said his symptoms are such that he “wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the effects of the AIDS drugs or age related conditions.”

But some are still wary of medical breakthroughs.

“It’s hard to strike a good balance between ‘victory over AIDS’ and then having people think ‘we’re so close to a cure, if I get sick, so what?’” said creative writing major Morgan Welch, 24.

In addition to treatment success, other factors can contribute to complacency about the disease.

“The perception of the disease is affected by what goes on in the public arena,” said UCSF psychologist Wayne Steward, who works at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS).

According to Steward, fewer resources have been directed at prevention efforts as the treatments have advanced, and this has had a direct effect on public awareness.

“Whatever goes on in Hollywood and in congress influences what we think about and the conversations we have with each other,” he said citing a drop-off in congressional funding and celebrity awareness campaigns.

The length of time that AIDS has been a concern in the public arena is another factor, according to Angelo.

“You can’t have a 25 year crisis,” he said. “It is a serious concern, but people burn out of crisis mode after that long.”

Cinema and creative writing major Carlos Foster, 21, expressed a similar view.

“Maybe the fear isn’t so predominant anymore because it’s been a whole generation since AIDS came out,” said Foster. “It’s not a mystery disease anymore and perhaps more familiar.”

Whether or not the disease’s image has changed at all , the lifelong concerns of those diagnosed with HIV are as serious as ever, said Angelo.

The very drugs that lower viral levels, are at the same time “very strong and taxing to the body, with serious side effects,” according to Angelo

It is because of this, he said, that those with HIV may live longer lives but often not to their original life expectancy.

Furthermore, the cost of therapy without insurance has been estimated to be between $15,000 and $20,000 annually, according to The Body.

The campus AIDS Coordinating Committee estimates that as many as one-thirtieth of the student population at SF State is infected with HIV, according to Angelo.

The Committee’s Web site states that in 2003 there were 4.8 new HIV infections worldwide, and over half of those were younger than age 25.

Raising money for the treatment and prevention of HIV is an important cause to SF State student Welch, who has already participated in the Aids Walk twice.

“I walk because I don’t know anyone who has it, and I want to keep it that way,” she said.