Hong Kong Reports Large Increase in Number of Recorded HIV Cases in 2007

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection on Tuesday announced that 414 new cases of HIV were confirmed for 2007, the largest increase in the number of new cases ever recorded, Xinhuanet reports. According to the center, the number of cases was 11% higher than the number recorded in 2006.

Sexual intercourse was the primary mode of transmission in Hong Kong, Wong Ka-hing, a consultant for the health protection center, said. Of the new recorded cases in 2007, 168 were among men who have sex with men, 103 were transmitted through heterosexual sex, 43 through injection drug use, two through blood transfusions and one through mother-to-child transmission. There are now 3,612 cases of HIV/AIDS recorded in the city since 1984, Xinhuanet reports. Seventeen new AIDS cases were recorded in the fourth quarter of last year, bringing the total to 934 since 1985 (Xinhuanet, 2/26).

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