The total number of people in Hong Kong living with AIDS has increased by more than 60 per cent to over 100 cases last year in contrast with 2022, health statistics reported.
According to the statistical figures released by the Department of Health on Tuesday, it showed that Hong Kong had a total of 101 Aids cases in 2023 which is an increase from 62 in 2022.
The figure showed that it is the first jump in the number of people infected with AIDS since the COVID-19 pandemic in the city.
The health department said that there were 122 cases in 2019 before the number dropped to 112 in 2020, and 90 in 2021.
The total number of people infected with AIDS in Hong Kong since 1985 is 2,483
The record revealed that 14 were reported to be through homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual contact in the fourth quarter of last year.
Also, the cases of infection recorded in 2022 went down from 409 to 397 cases last year.
“The number of reports of HIV infection has decreased for eight consecutive years from the peak of 725 cases in 2015 to 397 cases in 2023, but the rate of decline has moderated visibly last year,” a spokesman for the department’s Centre for Health Protection said.
He said further that over 80 per cent of Aids patients recorded last year progressed to the disease within three months of diagnosis with HIV infection, which pointed out that the majority of people who had the virus had not had early testing for HIV antibodies.
The 397 HIV infections reported last year involved 326 men and 71 women.
More than half – 209 – acquired the infection through homosexual or bisexual contact, followed by 110 from heterosexual contact.
Other infection routes included intravenous drug use, blood or blood product transfusion as well as mother-to-child transmission.
The total number of HIV infections reported in Hong Kong since 1984 is 12,038.
The department said the most common AIDS-defining illness was pneumocystis pneumonia, a fungal infection in one or both lungs.
“HIV is the cause of AIDS, and sexual transmission remained the major mode of HIV transmission,” the spokesman said.
Dr Wilson Lam, the vice president of the Hong Kong Society for Infectious Diseases, attributed the increase to less screening of people over the pandemic as they focused more on COVID-19 and neglected other symptoms.
The Free and anonymous AIDS hotline (852) 2780 2211 provides information on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) to the public.
衛生署數據顯示，去年香港愛滋病感染人數增加101人，較2022年增加逾60%
據衛生統計數據顯示，去年香港愛滋病毒/愛滋病感染者總數較 2022 年增加了 60% 以上，達到 100 多人。
衛生署週二公佈的統計數字顯示，本港2023年共有101宗愛滋病個案，較2022年的62宗有所增加。
數字顯示，這是該市自COVID-19大流行以來愛滋病感染人數首次激增。
衛生部門表示，2019年有122例病例，2020年該數字降至112例，2021年降至90例。
自1985年以來，香港感染愛滋病的總人數為2,483人
記錄顯示，去年第四季有 14 人發生同性戀、雙性戀或異性戀接觸。
此外，2022年記錄的感染病例從去年的409例下降到397例。
衛生署衛生防護中心發言人表示：「愛滋病毒感染報告數字已連續八年下降，由2015年高峰時期的725宗下降至2023年的397宗，但去年下降幅度明顯放緩。」 。
他進一步表示，去年記錄的愛滋病患者中有超過80%在診斷出感染愛滋病毒後的三個月內進展為這種疾病，這表明大多數感染者沒有及早進行愛滋病毒抗體檢測。
去年報告的 397 例愛滋病毒感染者涉及 326 名男性和 71 名女性。
超過一半（209 人）是透過同性戀或雙性接觸感染的，其次是 110 人透過異性接觸感染。
其他感染途徑包括靜脈注射毒品、輸血或輸血製品、母嬰傳染。
自1984年以來，香港報告的愛滋病毒感染總數為12,038例。
該部門表示，最常見的愛滋病定義疾病是肺孢子蟲肺炎，這是一種肺部或雙肺的真菌感染。
發言人說：“愛滋病毒是愛滋病的病因，性傳播仍然是愛滋病毒傳播的主要方式。”
香港傳染病學會副主席林偉信博士將這種增加歸因於人們在大流行期間的篩檢減少，因為他們更關注COVID-19而忽略了其他症狀。
免費匿名愛滋熱線 (852) 2780 2211 向民眾提供有關愛滋病及性傳染感染的資訊。
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