Few sites for AIDS counsel

With the plight of AIDS placed in the national spotlight this week by World AIDS Day and the AIDS Global Summit in Lake Forest drawing such figures as Hillary Clinton, it may be easy to overlook how the deadly syndrome afflicts Orange County.

Hundreds of people in Newport-Mesa struggle with AIDS and HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

As of Oct. 31 this year, 287 people in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach have AIDS, and another 175 have HIV.

In 2006, Latinos were the largest-growing demographic in the county, making up 50% of the 259 new cases reported that year.

According to the same December study, approximately 3,500 people were listed as having AIDS in Orange County. That’s a 79% increase during the last 10 years.

The number does not necessarily reflect the number of new cases, however, as much as it may a drop in the mortality rate after the release of what medical authorities call “the AIDS Cocktail” in 1996.

The cocktail, or combination drug therapy, uses several different classifications of medicine together to slow down the replication of the virus.

“It could best be described as jamming a copy machine from several points,” legislative advocate Tom Peterson said. “If you jam the machine in one location, only the virus will mutate and move around the jam, but it can’t do that on the second or third one. It slows down.”

Peterson said, however, that half the struggle is maintaining the chores that come with a normal life in addition to keeping track of several medications, insurance coverage, doctors appointments and flare-ups.

Missing a dose can put an HIV patient back days as sometimes they have to get new stronger medication to push back the virus again.

There are 30 medications in six classifications of drugs and sophisticated diagnostics to improve prescribing and dosing people, Peterson said.

“We can really find out which of these drugs they will be resistant to and others they will react positively to just from a drop of blood,” he said.

Locally, only a few venues offer comprehensive support for people with HIV/AIDS.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach offers no AIDS/HIV support groups. In fact, all the hospital’s cases get referred to the AIDS Service Foundation Orange County in Irvine.

That facility offers a slew of services to those in the community with HIV/AIDS, including counseling for chemical dependency, computer tutoring, family events, a food pantry, home care, housing services, transportation, massage therapy, exercise programs and even haircuts.

The Irvine AIDS Services branch has also parented the MPower OC project in Costa Mesa, geared mainly toward gay men between the ages of 18 to 29.

Young gay men make up a widely under-represented group in this area, said Anthony Malek, the facility’s outreach and event coordinator.

“Pretty much what we do is put together social programs, for instance, like our upcoming runway show,” Malek said. “We’ve got different designers from Orange County trying to infuse a safe-sex message into their clothing.”

People get bored of just reading prevention literature, he added.

MPower OC also performs walk-in tests for the public from 3 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, and from 3 to 7 p.m Wednesdays and Thursdays at its Costa Mesa office, 3303 Harbor Blvd., Suite B6.

AIDS Services Foundation Orange County tests from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at 17982 Sky Park Circle Suite L, Irvine.

All the testing is anonymous and offers results in 20 minutes. Pre- and post-counseling is also available.

For more information on local volunteer opportunities call (949) 809-5771 or visit www.ocasf.org.

To contact MPower OC call (714) 327-0236. Or check out MPower OC at their MySpace page www.myspace.com/mpoweroc.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at kelly.strodl@latimes.com.