China reported 132,545 accumulated cases of HIV infection by the end of August this year, announced Vice Health Minister Wang Longde here on Monday.

The cases include 30,158 AIDS patients and 7,643 deaths. The provinces and regions of Yunnan, Henan, Guangxi, Xinjiang and Guangdong reported more than 10,000 cases each, accounting for 77 percent of the total amount, said Wang at an AIDS conference held in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

Drug abuse is still the main mode of transmission, accounting for 41.6 percent of infections. An unclear source of infection accounts for 22 percent, but Wang expected most were through sex.

The infection rate in pregnancy increased from zero in 1997 to 0.26 percent in 2004, which indicates the epidemic is spreading from high-risk groups to ordinary people, he noted.

The ministry at the end of 2004 reported 106,990 HIV infected cases including 23,955 AIDS patients. However, experts believe the reported cases only account for 12.7 percent of the real number, suggesting that China now has about 840,000 HIV carriers, including 80,000 AIDS patients.

Source: Xinhua