Ignoring a Problem, Doesn't Make it go Away
I saw the movie years ago, and wanted to read the book. As I was reading it, the Covid-19 epidemic became an issue, and they had the same problems they had with AIDS. Nobody understood where it came from, how it spread or how to treat it. However, with AIDS, it mostly spread in gay men, so nobody really cared for the first several years, until it was found in the general blood pool, and then it became an issue, however, it was too late. As I read it, I could see the similarities of both Covid and AIDS, and how ignorance, failure to listen and follow simple safety rules, failure to listen to medical doctors trying to explain how this disease is different then any that have been dealt with in the past, lead to the exposure of millions when it didn't have to.
If you are writing a paper on epidemics, and they can be stopped, or made worse, this is a good book for you to see how some tried to stop it, and how others did nothing to prevent it.