A Life and Death Drama in Key West : AIDS: Key West Florida is being torn between compassion for its high number of AIDS patients and the fear that they will stifle its vital tourist economy.

AIDS is so prevalent on this resort island that Chamber of Commerce officials worry that the disease may turn away the tourists the economy relies on and change this into a place to die.

Monroe County, which includes Key West, has an AIDS rate even higher than those of New York City and San Francisco. Most county residents live on the Florida Keys, the chain of islands anchored by Key West.

The deadly disease has spurred compassion among many residents of Key West, a city with a highly visible gay population. Although no reliable statistics exist, some social workers say that many AIDS patients from other cities are aware of the concern express in Key West and are coming here for treatment and to die.

That compassion could overwhelm the local health-care system and stifle tourism, Key West’s primary industry, officials say.

“If this is a great place to die, then it’s not a great place to have your winter vacation,” said Jaye Harkow, a social worker who moved to Key West a year ago to counsel AIDS patients.

And that worries Greater Key West Chamber of Commerce officials.

“The impact on this community could be tremendous if we have AIDS patients come into Key West for their last days,” said John Parks Jr., chamber president. “We don’t want to advertise that this is a place for AIDS patients to come.

“If the negative gets out that there are a large number of AIDS cases in the Key West area, then people have the fear of not coming to Key West,” he said. “This can be an explosive situation to the community.”

Monroe County had 121 cases of AIDS per 100,000 people in 1988, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. San Francisco had 102 cases per 100,000 from August, 1988, to July, 1989, New York City had 63 and the greater Miami area had 45.

Since the county first started keeping records of AIDS cases in 1982, 217 people have been diagnosed as having the disease in the Keys, said Dave Nolan, who handles statistics for the Monroe Public Health Unit. That number does not include those who were diagnosed elsewhere and then moved to Key West. Of the 217 diagnosed, 132 have died.

AIDS has put the county’s only public hospital, Florida Keys Memorial, in a financial bind.