2010-06-01 17:06

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 101 cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections in the first quarter of 2010, the Center for Health Protection of the Hong Kong government announced Tuesday.

The new cases found have brought the cumulative total of reported HIV infections in Hong Kong to 4,544 since 1984.

Of the 101 HIV cases, which comprised 75 males and 26 females, 20 acquired the infection via heterosexual contact, 41 via homosexual or bisexual contact, four through drug injection, and one through mother-to-child transmission.

The routes of transmission of the remaining 35 cases were undetermined due to inadequate information, the center's consultant Dr Wong Ka-hing said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Nineteen new cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported in the first quarter, taking the number of confirmed AIDS cases reported in the city to 1,125 since 1985. Forty-two percent of the new AIDS cases were related to heterosexual contact and 42 percent to homosexual or bisexual contact.

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