In Forrest Gump, Jenny contracts a "mysterious" virus, are we meant to think it's HIV? If so does it mean that it may have been passed to Forrest and more likely, little Forrest?
by 
brufred
ANSWERS: 16
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it's been years since I saw this film, but didn't she get HIV *after* giving birth??
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Yes we were meant to believe it was HIV or Hep C. From her drug use and sexual incounters throughout the movie.When she told him about her sickness and the boy. She did tell him the boy was safe.
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either hiv or hepartitis. yes chances are she could have passed it on only if she had it before she slept with forest and got pregnant. i think they portrayed it, that it was after she had the baby.
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hiv. if it was hep c and she was dying from it she would not have been walking around, or being so active. i've seen people die of hep c. it was definately aids.
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Remember one thing... It's a movie... and anything and everything is possible. I took the movie as a story... not a documentary.
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I like to think that perhaps she has a brain tumor that is slowly increasing the pressure in her cranium and that she died of an anurism rather than a sexually transmitted disease, this way Forrest and Forrest Jr are both safe and secure in the sequel that runs in my head ever so often.
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She could have contracted HIV prior to sleeping with FOrrest and died of AIDS without passing the virus on. The risk of transmission of HIV from female to male is only about 0.3% per intercourse act. Since it is inferred that they only had sex once, it's likely that Forrest didn't contract it. Similarly, vertical transmission from mother to child is about 25% without the use of AZT (yes I know it's unlikely it would have been around at the time of the movie). The point is, Jenny may have had HIV prior to sleeping with Forrest and still have her son without treansferring the virus to either.
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Maybe little forest was born with the double delta 32 gene.This would cause little forest to be immune to aids and the black plague.
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You've gotten good answers to which i can add nothing except -- that the thought had also crossed my mind.
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First read the Anonymous answer regarding the rate of HIV transmission from female to male and mother to baby... I agree that it could have been either HIV/AIDS or Hep C. However, I really think the book's author meant to imply HIV. While some Dr's knew there was another kind of Hepatits (besides A & B) as early as the 1970's, it is generally accepted that Hep C was discovered in 1989. HIV was discovered in 1981. HIV made ALOT more headlines and caused a much bigger cultural wave than Hep C did. The timelines and milestones in the book and film benchmark era's in American history. Jenny died in 1984. That is when HIV and AIDS were beginning to come to the forefront of both our media and our healthcare awareness. It was eluded to as a mystery ailment for many years.
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After reading the answers, I think it IS AIDS but when I watched the movie before I even heard of that possibility, I always just thought it was a mysterious virus. It could still be just that - just another virus that we didn't know a lot about in the 80s. The probability of not passing it on to Forrest or Forrest Jr. is high, but still likely.. and I'm not sure how she would contact HIV/AIDS after the birth (that is, if she didn't have it) unless she got a blood transfusion of infected blood, did drugs (unlikely if she has a kid, but likely if she's having trouble kicking the habit), or had sex with someone who has it (maybe going back to prostitution or a one night stand... who knows?) My money's on blood transfusion though if it was AIDS and it was after the birth. That way, at least Forrest Jr. was unaffected. Runner up to that bet is that she had the infection all along but the chances of female to male transmission is low and the child was delivered via c-section.
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In response to the "top answer:" They have sex once and Forrest, Jr. is conceived... but they don't just have sex once in the entire movie. They get married. So wouldn't the chances of Forrest, Sr. contracting it be fairly likely?
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I think that she might have had Hanta Virus. Her previous drug abuse and promiscuity may be irrelevant. She worked in the food industry, and where there's food, there are rats and mice. Mice spread Hanta Virus. Rats spread Leptospirosis, bot of which are incurable, even to this day.
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she could have had cancer, and trust me I just lost my papa who was more my dad, he was only 53 still young, ok back to the movie (sorry I had to get that out i dont really talk about it) but yeah sadly she could have had cancer, its sad that she died
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I think it was the HIV virus because of the time line of the story. I noticed on the grave stone of "Jenny Gump" that it was 1982 when she died. Obviously, for whatever reason Forest and his son did not contract the virus because some time had passed and there was no mentioned of any mysterious illness connected with them. The boy had to be around 5 or 6 because he was starting school.
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I have always wondered about that as well. The first thing that came into my mind was also AIDS but you would think that she would have told him, even if she became infected after little Forrest's birht. The most logical explanation I have come up with for myself is that she simplified it so Forrest could understand the import if not the detail. Try explaining cardiomyopathy secondary to a viral infection to Forrest. Heck, I don't understand it, so I'd like to think Forrest couldn't iether ;D
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