bob&carole
June 5th 07, 02:15 PM
New HIV infections among homosexuals up sharply in HK
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - New HIV infections among homosexual men are on
the rise in Hong Kong and a government consultant warned on Wednesday
that prevalence of the disease in this group could hit 30 percent by
2020 if nothing is done.
The government this week reported 91 new HIV infections in the first
quarter of 2007, up from 89 in the same period in 2006.
Of those, 35 were in men who had had homosexual sex, said Wong Ka-
hing, consultant with the Health Department. This compared with 29
new
infections in the first quarter of 2006 and 19 in the same period of
2005.
"If there is no intervention, HIV-infected men who have sex with men
could hit 15,000 by 2020 in Hong Kong, that would be a prevalence of
30 percent," Wong said in a telephone interview.
HIV prevalence in this group is estimated at 4 percent now. Experts
would consider any high-risk group as having a "concentrated
epidemic"
once prevalence reaches 5 percent.
Concern groups say the spike in new HIV infections among homosexual
men is not confined to Hong Kong.
High prevalence rates are observed in Thailand (28 percent), Nepal (4
percent), Taiwan (8 percent), Vietnam (8 percent) and Cambodia (14
percent), according to a report in August 2006 by the help group
TREAT
Asia.
Homosexual men make up a substantial portion of new HIV infections in
South Korea and Singapore.
"New HIV infections are increasing among men who have sex with men
everywhere. Some of that is of a cross-border nature because of gay
parties," said Loretta Wong, who heads the help group, Aids Concern,
in Hong Kong.
"Some are under the influence of drugs and they don't even remember
if
they used condoms. People tend to be less careful when they are
overseas."
Of concern is one cluster of new infections in Hong Kong which
ballooned from 34 men last September to 53 by March.
"Genetically, viruses isolated from them are very similar. From
genetic sequencing, we determined they were all together (passed the
virus to one another)," consultant Wong said.
A smaller cluster in Hong Kong grew less rapidly, from 12 men last
September to 13 by March.
The government has yet to find out how the virus spread in the bigger
cluster, or if there is a "super-spreader" involved.
Consultant Wong said greater numbers of homosexual men were using the
Internet to hunt for sex partners.
"We did a study recently and found that people are looking for sex
partners on the Internet but we do not know if this cluster was
formed
that way," consultant Wong said, adding that the government was
trying
to promote safe sex via the Internet.
But Loretta Wong cautioned against losing sight of other high-risk
groups, such as heterosexual men with multiple sex partners, the
commercial sex industry and intravenous drug users.
"There are many things we need to do to prevent this from escalating
further," Loretta Wong said.
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - New HIV infections among homosexual men are on
the rise in Hong Kong and a government consultant warned on Wednesday
that prevalence of the disease in this group could hit 30 percent by
2020 if nothing is done.
The government this week reported 91 new HIV infections in the first
quarter of 2007, up from 89 in the same period in 2006.
Of those, 35 were in men who had had homosexual sex, said Wong Ka-
hing, consultant with the Health Department. This compared with 29
new
infections in the first quarter of 2006 and 19 in the same period of
2005.
"If there is no intervention, HIV-infected men who have sex with men
could hit 15,000 by 2020 in Hong Kong, that would be a prevalence of
30 percent," Wong said in a telephone interview.
HIV prevalence in this group is estimated at 4 percent now. Experts
would consider any high-risk group as having a "concentrated
epidemic"
once prevalence reaches 5 percent.
Concern groups say the spike in new HIV infections among homosexual
men is not confined to Hong Kong.
High prevalence rates are observed in Thailand (28 percent), Nepal (4
percent), Taiwan (8 percent), Vietnam (8 percent) and Cambodia (14
percent), according to a report in August 2006 by the help group
TREAT
Asia.
Homosexual men make up a substantial portion of new HIV infections in
South Korea and Singapore.
"New HIV infections are increasing among men who have sex with men
everywhere. Some of that is of a cross-border nature because of gay
parties," said Loretta Wong, who heads the help group, Aids Concern,
in Hong Kong.
"Some are under the influence of drugs and they don't even remember
if
they used condoms. People tend to be less careful when they are
overseas."
Of concern is one cluster of new infections in Hong Kong which
ballooned from 34 men last September to 53 by March.
"Genetically, viruses isolated from them are very similar. From
genetic sequencing, we determined they were all together (passed the
virus to one another)," consultant Wong said.
A smaller cluster in Hong Kong grew less rapidly, from 12 men last
September to 13 by March.
The government has yet to find out how the virus spread in the bigger
cluster, or if there is a "super-spreader" involved.
Consultant Wong said greater numbers of homosexual men were using the
Internet to hunt for sex partners.
"We did a study recently and found that people are looking for sex
partners on the Internet but we do not know if this cluster was
formed
that way," consultant Wong said, adding that the government was
trying
to promote safe sex via the Internet.
But Loretta Wong cautioned against losing sight of other high-risk
groups, such as heterosexual men with multiple sex partners, the
commercial sex industry and intravenous drug users.
"There are many things we need to do to prevent this from escalating
further," Loretta Wong said.