HIV/AIDS figure has risen to 558

JAKARTA: The number of people found with HIV and AIDS in the country increased from 550 in June to 558 by the end of July, an official said.

Director general for the prevention of communicable disease at the Ministry of Health, Hadi M. Abednego, was quoted by Antara as saying Tuesday that the eight additional carriers include four from Central Kalimantan, two from Jakarta, one from Central Java and another one from North Sulawesi.

Hadi said the actual number of HIV/AIDS cases could be 100 times higher than that recorded by health officials, and that 90 percent of cases were through sexual contact.

Out of the total number, 421 people tested HIV positive, while 137 had full-blown AIDS, including 78 who died as a result of the condition. Hadi said 371 carriers were male, 167 female, and there was no record about the gender of the remaining 20 carriers.

HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, causes the as yet incurable Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

According to Hadi, 459 people with HIV/AIDS were infected through both heterosexual and homosexual contact, six were infected by using contaminated syringes, and four from blood transfusions. In addition, there were three children under the age of four who became infected by their HIV/AIDS-infected mothers.

The mode of infection of the remaining 86 people was not known.

The age of carriers ranged from toddlers to those over 60 years old.

The carriers lived throughout 22 provinces. Jakarta has the highest number with 174 carriers, followed by the eastern-most province of Irian Jaya with 134. (swe)