Number of men in 20s contracting HIV through gay sex leaps
Official figures show for the first time that most men who contracted the virus through same-sex encounters were in their 20s
More men in their 20s were infected with HIV through same-sex encounters last year, according to government statistics, in a trend health experts said was alarming.
In the first major increase since the city began keeping track in 1985, the number of men who contracted HIV, the virus that causes Aids, through same-sex encounters were aged between 20 and 29. Their age group saw 164 new infections last year, compared to those aged 30 to 39, who usually have the most new infections but saw 102 new cases last year, Health Department figures showed yesterday.
Dr Wong Ka-hing, consultant in the special preventive programme at the Health Department, said sexual encounters between men accounted for the majority of new HIV infections and Aids cases worldwide.
Hong Kong keeps with that trend, as 378 of the 651 new cases reported in 2014 were transmitted via sexual encounters between men.
In just the last quarter of 2014, the city saw 152 new cases, 125 of which occurred in men. Of those, 82 were acquired via homosexual or bisexual sex.