Shanghai records 7.5% rise in cases of HIV

Shanghai had more than 2,100 new HIV cases by November 20 this year, with homosexual sex the main reason for the spread, local health authorities said yesterday. 

The city reported 2,106 people infected with HIV from January 1 to November 20, up 7.5 percent from the same period last year, said Shanghai Commission of Health and Family Planning.

Although the number of HIV infections still rose, the growth was slow in recent years and had been controlled to a low level, the commission said.

Meanwhile, the city registered 745 AIDS patients during the same period, down 2 percent from last year, and there had been 169 deaths, a decrease of 5.1 percent, the commission reported. 

There was no report of mother-to-infant infection. 

Sex is the main channel for the spread of HIV/AIDS cases, accounting for 96.3 percent of new cases, and gay sex responsible for 57.7 percent of those. Men made up 91.1 percent of HIV/AIDS cases, about the same as 2016.

There were 192 infections of people aged over 60, posing an increase from the same period last year, the commission reported.

The city has been taking measures including education, consultation, examination and checks to control the incidence of HIV/AIDS. All local community health service centers have provided HIV/AIDS consultation services, and provide fast tests on HIV/AIDS, the commission said.

Since the city reported its first HIV/AIDS case in 1987, Shanghai has recorded 19,524 HIV cases, and there have been 1,432 deaths.