HONG KONG, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong reported 98 cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections in the second quarter of 2009, the Center for Health Protection of the Hong Kong government announced Tuesday.

    Of the 98 HIV cases, which comprised 80 males and 18 females, 20 acquired the infection via heterosexual contact, 35 via homosexual or bisexual contact, five through drug injection, one through blood/blood product infusion, one through mother-to-child transmission.

    The routes of transmission of the remaining 36 cases were undetermined due to inadequate information, according to the center's consultant Dr Wong Ka-hing.

    Twenty-four new cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported in the second quarter, taking the number of confirmed AIDS cases reported in the city to 1,071 since 1985. Fifty-four percent of the new AIDS cases were related to heterosexual contact.

    In this quarter, the most common AIDS-defining illness was pneumocystis pneumonia, a kind of chest infection.