570 new HIV/AIDS cases reported in Georgia in 2018

The number of people infected with HIV is on a slight upward trend, the latest medical data reveals.

570 new cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported in Georgia as of 6 November, says the Centre for Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology.

To compare, 540 new cases of the infection were revealed in the same period  last year.

A total of 7,332 HIV/AIDS -infected persons are registered in the Centre for Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology. Most cases (2,676) are reported in Tbilisi of which 87 were foreign citizens.

5,486 of the infected persons are male patients and 1,846 are female.

The majority of infected people are from 29 to 39 years old.

AIDS has developed in 3,816 patients, while 1,495 people have died from AIDS, says the centre. 90 males and 24 females died from AIDS in 2018.

Data published by the centre show that:

• 40.2 percent (2,950) of infected patients are drug addicts
• 46,2 percent (3,388) – infected as a result of heterosexual contact
• 11,2 percent (804) – men who have sex with men
• 1.4 percent (104) – were infected through vertical transmission
• 0.5 percent (36) – blood recipients
• 0.7 percent (49) – through unknown routes of transmission