AIDS' CHANGING FACE; ADVANCES HELP THOSE AFFECTED LOOK TO THE FUTURE.

Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer

Cherub-faced Nick Hairapetian, 25, said he was diagnosed HIV-positive five years ago. He is now planning to go to college, get his degree and become a social worker.

Linebacker-like Tony Castillo, 34, volunteers at a health center and looks forward to ringing in the new millennium. He said he tested positive 12 years ago and began suffering AIDS symptoms in 1996.

The two San Fernando Valley men, both from Van Nuys, represent just how much the face of AIDS has changed since World AIDS Day was first observed 10 years ago today.

Today's carriers are living healthier and longer lives thanks to tests that detect the virus earlier, potent new drug ``cocktails,'' increased education and a new attitude.

As Hairapetian prefers to affirm: ``I've been living with it for five years, not dying.''

But unfortunately the disease does continues to kill. On Monday, the Los Angeles County department of health reported AIDS is the county's No. 1 cause of death for people ages 25 to 45.

``The disease did not go away. It's still here,'' Castillo said. Carriers ``have different faces and shapes and sizes. We don't all look like we're going to drop dead - but we're sick.''

The changing face of AIDS has also become younger, as the number infected among 12- to 24-year-olds rises. Most came of age well after the nation went into crisis mode, waging aggressive AIDS prevention campaigns in the late 1980s.

But as campaigns tapered and new drugs emerge now there's a more relaxed attitude toward AIDS, health experts say.

``Some people have gotten an idea it's not a big deal anymore, they're not being as careful as they should be because they think it's a quick cure,'' said Diane Chamberlain of the Valley Community Clinic. ``People aren't testing as much, which is a concern.''

Also, drugs don't work miracles. They only work in some people, can cause side effects and require taking up to 50 pills a day on a strictly-timed basis, she said.

Both Hairapetian and Castillo went off cocktails, Castillo because of side effects and Hairapetian because of the restraints the regime placed on his life.

Castillo, who volunteers at the Valley HIV/AIDS Center in Van Nuys, was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1987 while donating blood. He had contracted it from a boyfriend who died from AIDS a few years ago.

Four years ago he decided to count the number of people he knew who had died. ``I stopped at 207,'' he said.

On Monday, Hairapetian, a volunteer with Hands United Together in Van Nuys, an AIDS education and resource center, received the county's award for AIDS peer counselor of the year and was appointed spokesman for youths.

When he was 20 he was a victim of date rape. Afterward his attacker told him he had AIDS. Several months later Hairapetian tested HIV-positive.

Today, he uses peer counseling as a way to reach out to others and heal himself.

``This is how I'm getting over my anger. The more I help people the better I feel,'' he said.

Today, World AIDS Day will be observed in more than 190 countries, under the theme ``Be a Force for Change.''

Worldwide, there are more than 6 million new HIV infections a year and more than half involve people under 25. About 30.6 million people worldwide were living with the virus in June, according to a United Nations report.

Officials report more than 38,000 Los Angeles County residents have developed AIDS since the virus was first recognized in 1981, and all but about 14,000 have died.

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PHOTO Nick Hairapetian, a volunteer with Hands United Together in Van Nuys, received the county's award for AIDS peer counselor of the year on Monday.

Andy Holzman/Daily News