HK reports 105 HIV cases in second quarter

Hong Kong's Department of Health Tuesday announced that 105 cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection were recorded in the second quarter of 2010 in the city.

The newly reported cases, comprising 74 males and 31 females, has brought the cumulative total of reported HIV infections to 4,649 since 1984.

Reviewing the city's Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) situation on Tuesday, the department's consultant Dr. Wong Ka-hing said sexual transmission continued to be the major mode of HIV transmission in Hong Kong.

Of the 105 HIV cases reported, 33 acquired the infection via heterosexual contact, 38 via homosexual or bisexual contact, four through drug injection, and one through mother-to-child transmission. The routes of transmission of the remaining 29 cases were as yet undetermined due to inadequate information.

Sixteen new cases of AIDS were reported in the second quarter, bringing to 1,141 the total number of confirmed AIDS cases reported since 1985. Of the new AIDS cases 50 percent were related to heterosexual contact and 38 percent to homosexual or bisexual contact.

In this quarter, the most common AIDS-defining illness was Pneumocystis Pneumonia, a kind of opportunistic chest infection.

Source: Xinhua