Report Cites AIDS Danger to County Women : Health: More than half of victims are found to have acquired virus from a male lover. Growth rate is increasing after a decline in 1992.

More than half the women infected with AIDS in Ventura County acquired the deadly virus from a male lover, according to a report to be released today.

Health officials consider the report important because it illustrates what they have been saying for years: that AIDS is not limited to homosexuals, drug users and others traditionally viewed as high-risk groups.

They also disclosed that after a decline last year, new AIDS cases are again on the rise in the county.

Dr. Larry Dodds, who recently resigned as county public health director, prepared the report as one of his final duties. He will present the findings to the Board of Supervisors this morning.

In Ventura County, 14 of the 27 women with AIDS--or 52%--contracted the disease through heterosexual contact, Dodds’ report states, contrasted with a 34% rate statewide.

“What goes on in Ventura County is different from what goes on in Los Angeles,” Dodds said, speaking from his home. “In L.A., they have a lot of women who are trading sex for drugs. Here, we have more women who are at risk because of the behavior of their partner--the boyfriend or husband.”

Dodds and other officials encouraged women to be more discriminating in their heterosexual relationships. For instance, Diane Seyl, the county’s AIDS coordinator, said women can demand that new boyfriends submit to AIDS tests or require the men to use a condom for six months after starting a relationship. They can avoid having sex with known intravenous drug users.

Health officials emphasized the need for people to educate themselves about ways to guard against the disease.

“Really, the only tool we have is education,” Seyl said. “We don’t have a miracle drug to take care of this disease.”

But despite efforts to educate the public about risky behavior, health officials say the message still has not registered for many.

“These single bars are still going strong, and people are just ignoring the risk,” Seyl lamented. “Most people won’t realize how serious this epidemic is until someone close to them is infected and, the way things are going, someone close to all of us is going to be infected.”

Since 1982, when officials initially began to track the disease, 380 cases have been reported in Ventura County.

Through last year, 273 cases had been reported in the county. Dodds said that part of the reason the caseload has grown by 107 is that the federal Centers for Disease Control expanded the definition of AIDS, leading local officials to redefine 45 cases.

Under the new definition, patients who are infected by the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome are listed as having full-blown AIDS if they also have pulmonary tuberculosis, recurrent pneumonia or cervical cancer, among other markers, Dodds said.

“We say the definition has been liberalized,” said Dr. Sam Edwards of Ventura County Medical Center.

Even without the new definition, Dodds said, AIDS cases in the county would be rising.

Last year, under the old definition, 42 new cases were reported. In the first six months of this year, 60 new cases were reported using the new guidelines.

Female AIDS Cases Women accoount for only 27 (or 7%) of the 380 reported AIDS cases in Ventura County. A higher proportion of them contracted the disease through heterosexual contact than women across California. Intraveneous drug users Ventura cases: 26% California cases: 40% Hetrosexual contact Ventura cases: 52% California cases: 34% Transfusions with blood products Ventura cases: 19% California cases: 15% Other Ventura cases: 4% California cases: 10% Note: Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding. Sources: California Department of Health Services, Ventura County Public Health Agency.