HIV/AIDS: Rural County Uses Prevention Programs to Stave Off Epidemic

      As California's only county officially untouched by AIDS, Alpine County is not backing away from outreach programs, the Sacramento Bee reports. The 1,200 permanent residents have been largely shielded from HIV, said county health officer Dr. Richard Botto, noting that there have been no reported AIDS cases in the county, "he has never even knowingly treated a patient with HIV" and only one person in recent years requested an HIV test. At the same time, he said, the lack of exposure has created a "false sense of security. ... People think we are immune from the problem, and that's not true." AIDS educator Peter Zeldis agreed, noting that while the area is "rural during the week ... on the weekend we may get 15,000 tourists." Several Alpine residents are in fact HIV positive, said Toni Hall, the county's HIV community outreach worker. "[C]onfidentiality is a big issue because everybody knows everybody else," she said, noting that because many residents fear the stigma associated with HIV, they travel outside the county for tests and treatment. Alpine and other rural California counties -- four others have fewer than six HIV cases -- receive $50,000 annually from the state Office of AIDS to fund HIV prevention programs. Using CDC scripts, Zeldis visits schools and teaches young children about "a virus you can't get rid on" and older children about HIV transmission. "Five years ago, they didn't want us teaching about AIDS in the schools," Botto said. "There was even some resistance to hanging a condom machine in bars. Public education has been a problem, but attitudes are changing now," he said. Even if young adults understand that condoms can block infection, actually "obtaining condoms in the county is another matter," the Bee reports. Condoms are not stocked in many Alpine stores, and in "some cases you might have to drive 30 or 40 miles to get one," Botto said (Hubert, 6/28).