Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

THE prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains low in Shenzhen, with newly diagnosed HIV infections and AIDS cases down by 22.3% in the first 10 months of the year compared with the same period last year, the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday, the eve of  World AIDS Day.

The city reported 1,304 new HIV infections and AIDS cases and 26 related deaths from January to October. The number of newly reported cases included 840 HIV infections and 464 AIDS patients, down 23.9% and 19.6%, respectively, from last year.

In the first 10 months of the year, the number of HIV antibody tests in the city was 1.871 million, slightly down by 3.4% year on year. By the end of October, there were 17,494 people living with HIV in the city.

Among the newly reported cases, the average age of people first testing HIV positive is 34.8 years old, the oldest is 83 and the youngest is 15. Males accounted for 93.6% while females 6.4%, according to the Shenzhen CDC.

Nearly 99.5% of the newly reported infections were sexually transmitted, with 65.3% through same-sex sexual contact. They were mainly detected through medical institutions (65.5%), and consulting and testing clinics (23.5%).

No mother-to-infant infections have occurred so far this year in Shenzhen, and there have been no transfusion-transmitted infections in the city for the ninth straight year.

Data suggest that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains low in the city, but various risk factors that may lead to the spread of the epidemic still exist, the CDC cautioned.

Among the newly reported cases this year, 81.4% were young men aged 20-50 years, far higher than the national and provincial average.

In addition, as of Oct. 31, 22 student cases had been reported this year, including 17 HIV infections and five AIDS cases, all of which were sexually transmitted. Ten of the student cases are at the age of about 19, and at least six were confirmed as college freshmen.

Attention should also be paid to middle-aged and older adults aged 50 and above, as the group accounted for 12.5% of the newly reported cases this year, almost unchanged compared with last year, according to the CDC.

Shenzhen has been enhancing HIV/AIDS prevention and control through promoting public education, stepping up targeted intervention, encouraging self-tests and offering follow-up support to people who have tested positive in the first screening.

As of October 2022, the city had 241 HIV testing locations, volunteer counseling and testing sites, and HIV self-test kit vending machines.