21 foreigners found to have HIV 深圳今年确诊21例外籍艾滋病患者
Click "ShenzhenDaily" to follow us ↑
Twenty-one foreigners have been found to have HIV this year, and a total of 239 foreigners who have been found to have HIV are still living in the city, the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.
The foreigners were from 20 countries and regions, according to Yang Zhengrong, director of the AIDS prevention department of the center.
The proportion of foreigners with HIV is low, Yang said.
Foreigners found to have HIV were not allowed to enter China or were deported from China before a change in the law in 2010.
However, foreign nationals applying to work or study in China for more than six months still must be screened for HIV, and there have been reports of those testing positive not receiving visas or residence permits, according to HIVtravel.com.
The number of Shenzhen residents infected with HIV through anal intercourse has been increasing rapidly in recent years, with nearly 60 percent of this year's new cases being infected in that manner, according to a report released by the Shenzhen CDC yesterday to mark World AIDS Day today.
Shenzhen discovered 1,900 new HIV infections in the first 10 months of this year, up 3.8 percent from a year ago, Xia Junjie, director of the Shenzhen CDC, told reporters yesterday. Ninety-two percent of the new infections were found in men, with the average age of the newly infected being 34.5 years old.
Shenzhen 258 Rainbow Work Group
Nearly 98 percent of the newly reported infections were transmitted through sex, with 58.6 percent being through anal sex, compared with 52 percent a year ago. Only 2 percent of new cases were related to intravenous drug use.
Among the newly infected, 23 are students, including both college and middle school students, with the youngest person. being only 15 years old, Yang said.
"All 23 of the infected students are male and all were infected through sex, with 82.6 percent of them being infected through anal intercourse," said Yang. Last year, the proportion of newly infected students through anal sex was less than 80 percent, according to official data.
China had 2,321 new cases of HIV in students in the first nine months of this year, four times the amount in 2010, according to statistics released yesterday by the National Center for AIDS and STD Control and Prevention.
Non-permanent Shenzhen residents are a high-risk group, according to the report. Nearly 92 percent of the newly reported infections this year were in non-hukou holders.
Nearly 70 percent of the city's newly infected cases are in Luohu, Bao'an, Longgang and Longhua districts, according to Yang. In Luohu, nearly 70 percent of the newly reported infections are due to anal intercourse. In Bao’an, and Longgang — where 95 percent of residents are non-hukou holders — new HIV infections are mainly through vaginal intercourse.
Yang admitted that the actual number of residents infected with HIV may be higher than they have discovered. He estimated that 70 percent of existing cases have been discovered.
According to the CDC report, the overall spread of HIV in Shenzhen is slowing. From 2010 to 2014, the number of newly reported HIV infections increased at a rate of more than 20 percent, last year the rate was 11.2 percent while this year's rate is 3.8 percent.
Yang attributed the slowing rate of infection to government efforts, including increasing the number of HIV and AIDS diagnosis stations in the city to 200 and allowing more than 30 social organizations to help control the spread of the disease.
Now, 11,332 people with HIV live in the city, compared to 9,604 a year ago, according to the CDC report. More than 70 percent of AIDS patients in Shenzhen are receiving free treatment, which is considered high for China, he said.
(WeChat editor: Vince Xie)
Click "Read more" at the bottom(L) for more information
↓ ↓ ↓