(Photo: "Stevie" looks at Balboa Park -- where he used to live. Kenny Goldberg/KPBS)
Worldwide, about half of all new HIV infections occur in people under the age of 25. The percentage isn’t that high in San Diego. But the number of cases among young people is on the rise locally. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
There’s a steady stream of traffic on the periphery of Balboa Park. 20-year-old Stevie stands on the sidewalk. He used to live in the park, behind some bushes near the entrance on Laurel Street.
Stevie, not his real name, is from Imperial County.
Stevie: I came over here because I had a sugar daddy over here, and he talked me into moving over here. And about three-and-a-half months later, after I moved over here, my sugar daddy died. So there went all my income. And I just basically had to do it on my own. And I wasn’t going to go home, and show my parents that I had failed, so I did it here in Balboa Park.
What he did was turn tricks. Lots of them. Stevie says the money was good.
Stevie: I would get maybe $200 to sleep with guys overnight, or for a few hours, and all kinds of stuff like that.
But a few months ago, Stevie got tested for sexually transmitted diseases. He found out he had syphilis, and HIV.
Stevie says his days of selling himself to clients are over.
Stevie: I now can’t get the money that I used to get because a lot of my tricks know that I have HIV now, because I’m so honest about it. And a lot of the people that know that you have HIV they step back from you. They don’t want to deal with that. So they go to somebody else. And now I’m having a hard time trying to get money here or there. And the drugs come back in the picture, and it sucks, but it’s a reality.
Stevie is one of a growing number of young people who are getting infected with HI-V.
Dr. Jennifer Blanchard works in UCSD’s Adolescent HIV program.
Blanchard: When I first started participating in this clinic back in 2000, it was actually kind of a slow clinic. But it’s gotten a lot busier. We have many more kids, and a lot more sicker kids.
Dr. Blanchard says her clinic sees a newly diagnosed adolescent about every ten days.
Over the last four years in San Diego County, about five percent of new AIDS cases have been in young people ages 13 to 24. The percentage hasn’t been that high since the 1980s.
Doctors say the rise is due in part to better diagnosis. Risky sexual behavior and drug abuse are factors, too.
Dr. Friedman: How are you feeling?
Stevie: Right now, tired, very tired.
Dr. Friedman: Okay. The first thing I can tell you is, when you had your blood taken two weeks ago, the results are fine. Your CD 4 count is in the normal range, your viral load is about where it had been. So that’s all good.
Stevie: Thank God.
UCSD’s Dr. Larry Friedman tells Stevie he doesn’t need to get treated for his HIV yet.
But that could soon change. And if Stevie doesn’t have a steady place to live, getting him to take his medication regularly could be a problem.
So Dr. Friedman asks about it.
Dr. Friedman: What’s going on with where you’re living?
Stevie: Right now I’m staying with a friend of mine downtown. I don’t know how long it’s going to be, but….
Friedman will also ask Stevie about his drug use. Like many other kids who’ve become infected, Stevie uses methamphetamine.
Anthony Johnson is a social worker with the Adolescent HIV program. He keeps close tabs on 34 different young people.
Johnson helps kids like Stevie make their medical appointments, and serves as a sounding board as they try to get their lives together.
Some people might ask why spend time on a kid like Stevie, who’s already infected?
Johnson: Obviously, HIV is primarily transmitted through person to person sexual contact. So if I can help this one person, who’s positive, I can help unlimited numbers of people who are not positive.
Stevie says he’s been trying to do the right thing. He has a steady boyfriend now, and says they’ve never even had sex together.
Still, Stevie says it’s tough knowing he has HIV.
Stevie: My self esteem has gone down tremendously. I don’t feel like I used to feel. Some days I want to kill myself or you know, just let it go. And other days I’m like, no I can’t do that. It’s pretty gruesome some days.
To stay on top of his disease, Stevie will need to have his blood tested every few months. Once he starts treatment, he’ll likely have to take medication for the rest of his life.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
