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February 11, 2009
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| Nearly 800 Koreans were newly infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, last year, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday. This is the highest number ever. In 2008, 797 Koreans were infected with the virus that leads to AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. There has been a gradual increase in the number of Koreans infected with HIV annually, from 105 in 1996 to 219 in 2000 and 610 in 2004. Of the 797 newly infected, 743 were males and 54 were females. Twenty were teenagers. The number of infected Korean teenagers is also on the rise, from 0 in 1996 to 2 in 2000, and 12 in 2004. There were also 56 infected seniors who were 60 years old or over. The 459 people for whom the cause of infection was known, all caught the virus from sexual contact. Of those, 268 were infected through heterosexual contact, and 191 through homosexual interaction. All of those who got infected through sexual contact were males. “This shows that people are not cautious enough when having sex,” said Nam Jeong-gu, the senior researcher at the AIDS and tuberculosis department of the KCDCP. Nam also said the high number of infected males is due to the high number of infections through homosexual contact. A total 6,120 Koreans have been infected with HIV; 1,084 of them have died from AIDS or other reasons. The KCDCP said AIDS has now become a chronic disease like high blood pressure or diabetes. By Limb Jae-un Staff Reporter [jbiz91@joongang.co.kr] |
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