Eight diagnosed with HIV/AIDS this year

Eight people in Georgia have been diagnosed with AIDS or HIV in the past nine days.  

Among the newly infected people, five are men and three are women, claim the Georgian AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center.

According to the figures, more than 4,000 people (3,032 men and 1,099 women) infected with HIV are registered in Georgia.

Since the Research Centre began taking records, 2,483 people have been diagnosed with AIDS. Out of these patients, 896 had passed away. The rest are undergoing treatment.

Drug injection (52%) is the main transmission method of HIV. This is followed by heterosexual contact (40%). Getting HIV through homosexual or bisexual contact is low, at 5%. Blood transfusions and vertical transmission (from mother to baby during pregnancy) are other ways to get infected.

The highest number of patients with HIV or AIDS are registered in Tbilisi (1,447), 81 of them are foreign citizens. The second largest number are registered in the Samegrelo region, in western Georgia.

Latest records showed there were 85 children with the HIV virus in Georgia.

Last year 490 new cases of HIV/AIDS were recorded in Georgia, four of which were children.