HIV toll grows on high-risk behavior

HIV toll grows on high-risk behavior


Sexual intercourse among gay and bisexual men is still the predominant way of contracting HIV, with the number of cases increasing to 3,701, according to a Department of Health report.

There were 89 new HIV and 17 AIDS cases in the first quarter.

Wong Ka-hing of the Department of Health said follow-up investigations on cluster infections found a worrying trend of high-risk activity among homosexuals, citing an annual increase of 10-15 percent since 1985.

The report found that 27 of new HIV carriers contracted it through heterosexual contact and 28 through gay or bisexual activity. The other 10 were infected through injecting drugs and there was not enough data to determine the cause in 24 cases.

Nearly 40 percent of HIV infections occurred in Hong Kong, while 26 percent of patients were infected outside the territory, including Southeast Asia and the mainland.

Wong cited unprotected sex, the use of the internet to find partners, and sex parties as high- risk behavior, adding that patients are mostly aged between 20 and 49.

Without effective treatment, about half of those with the human immunodeficiency virus will progress, through AIDS-defining illness, to full- blown AIDS within 10 years.

The most common AIDS-defining illness is pneumocystis pneumonia, a chest infection that is closely followed by tuberculosis.