What does jennie in Forrest Gump die of?

Question

I've always wondered...was it aids, hep c...i mean i know she did drugs..but what killed her, does anyone know?

Answer 1

I think it's assumed she died of AIDS from sharing needles and what have you.

Answer 2

They never said what was making her sick. But I think they insinuated AIDS/HIV.

Answer 3

I found this at a "Forrest Gump" answer site:

What does Jenny die of? And is it mentioned anywhere in the film at all?

She dies of AIDS. They do not say AIDS in the movie, because she does not know what it is at the time. She just says she has some new disease, but they don't know what it is.

From Wikipedia:

Back to the present (the "present" in the film being around 1981, as seen from a car ad on a bus, and televised footage of Ronald Reagan's assassination attempt), Forrest tells his latest companion on the bench, an elderly woman, he'd recently received a letter from Jenny asking him to come see her. When he tells her the address and directions he'd been given, she tells him it's only a few blocks away, and he hurries over on foot.

Forrest and Jenny are happy to see each other. Before they can do much catching up, Forrest is introduced to Jenny's young son, a bright young boy whom she named Forrest after his father. Forrest at first thinks she met another man named Forrest, until she explains, "You're his daddy."

Forrest learns that Jenny is sick from a virus (implied to be HIV, due to the time as a prostitute). He invites her and Forrest Jr. to come home and stay with him. She asks him to marry her, and he accepts.

Answer 4

HIV cuz back then everyone shared needles and it had HIV in it.

Answer 5

i think she dies of aids but she doesn't actually know herself as she says some new disease so I am assuming that's what it is  

Answer 6

Don't think they really said. They just insinuated, and left it up to us to read between the lines. But either disease could have killed her, as both can be contracted through the use of needles.

Answer 7

It never definitively said, but Jenny states that she has a rare new disease, so new that doctors dont even have a name for it or know what it really is.

Because of theis it can be assumed that it is definitely HIV/AIDS. She This is obviously implying that it is HIV/AIDS because that disease was completely unheard of until the early 1980s (which in the story's timeline is when Jenny dies).

HIV is one of the biggest medical events of the century, therefore it would appropriatey fit in with the events of Forrest Gump's life being directly related to major events of the century seen throughout the movie (Vietnam, meeting the Presidents, Civil Rights Movement, ec.)

The virus could have come from sexual content (she was seen as being very promiscsous) or the sharing of needles during drug use (which she was seen doing too)

Answer 8

AIDS.

Answer 9

Some kind of sexually transmitted disease.

I guess it's aids but It's not specified.

Answer 10

i don;t think they ever actually said but made you believe it was AIDS because of her past.