HONG KONG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of 396 new cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) were found in Hong Kong last year, compared to 435 reported cases the preceding year, announced the Department of Health on Tuesday.
Reviewing the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) situation in Hong Kong at a press conference, the consultant of the department's Center for Health Protection Wong Ka-hing Tuesday said sexual transmission remained the major mode of HIV transmission in the city.
Of the 396 cases, 108 acquired the infection via heterosexual exposure and 162 via homosexual or bisexual contact. There were also 14 cases of drug injection, one case of blood/blood product infusion and three cases of perinatal transmission. The routes of transmission of 108 cases had yet to be determined due to inadequate information.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, a total of 71 people, comprising 57 males and 14 females, were tested positive for HIV, taking the cumulative total of reported HIV infection to 4,443 since 1984. Twenty new cases of AIDS were reported in the same period, bringing to 1,106 the total number of confirmed AIDS cases reported since 1985.
In this quarter, the most common AIDS defining illness was Pneumocystis Pneumonia, a kind of chest infection, and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.
