No. of HIV carriers increased 9.3% last year

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By Jun Ji-hye

The number of people who newly contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) last year reached 1,066, an increase of 9.3 percent from the 975 infections reported a year earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Thursday.

HIV is a virus that attacks the body's immune system and can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). While AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV, a person with HIV will not necessarily develop AIDS.

Among the 1,066 people, 825, or 77.4 percent, were Korean nationals, while 241, or 22.6 percent, were foreign nationals.

The KDCA said the ratio of foreign nationals contracting HIV has been rising, as they accounted for 19.5 percent in 2020, 20.7 percent in 2021 and 22.6 percent last year.

HIV carriers were mostly men, who accounted for 92.3 percent, compared to women at 7.7 percent. No information was provided about transgendered virus patients.

By age, those in their 30s were the most at 34.9 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 31.5 percent and those in their 40s at 16.5 percent.

The KDCA's epidemiological survey, which questioned 582 Korean nationals, showed that more than 99 percent of them contracted HIV through sexual contact. Among these, 60.3 percent were men who got it through sexual contact with other men.

As of the end of last year, the total accumulated number of surviving HIV carriers among Korean nationals was tallied at 15,880, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier.

“The government focuses on prevention, early discovery and treatment of AIDS as the disease can now be controlled following the development of cures,” KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said. “Still, we advise people to avoid unprotected sex to prevent AIDS.”