Hong Kong's HIV cases hit three-month high

HONG KONG - The Center for Health Protection ( CHP) of Hong Kong on Tuesday reported a record of 154 HIV infections in the first quarter of 2014, bringing the cumulative total of reported HIV infections to 6,496 since 1984.

According to the report, Of the 154 HIV cases, 84 acquired the infection via homosexual or bisexual contact, 22 via heterosexual contact and one through drug injection. The routes of transmission of the remaining 47 cases had yet to be determined due to inadequate information. The 154 cases comprised 133 males and 21 females.

Reviewing the HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) situation in Hong Kong at a press conference on Tuesday, Wong Ka hing, consultant of the CHP, said that sexual transmission had remained the major mode of HIV transmission.

Wong stressed the importance of proper use of condoms in reducing the risk of contracting HIV.

"HIV is the cause of AIDS and, without treatment, about half of the HIV-infected people will progress to AIDS within 10 years," he said.

Twenty new cases of AIDS were reported in this quarter, bringing to 1,457 the total number of confirmed AIDS cases reported since 1985. Fifty percent were attributed to homosexual or bisexual contact and another 35 percent were related to heterosexual contact.