About 30 new HIV infections were detected in the first quarter in the Vitebsk region

April 9, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. About 30 new cases of HIV infection were detected in the first quarter in the Vitebsk region, which is 52.6% more compared to the same period last year, Valentina Ananyeva, head of the AIDS Prevention Department of the Vitebsk Regional Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health, told a BELTA correspondent. As of April 1, a total of 701 cases of HIV infection have been registered in the region. The incidence rate was 2.4 per 100,000 population, compared to the national rate of 3.4. The most unfavorable districts in the region are Liozno, Tolochin, Gorodok, Dubrovno, Polotsk, Vitebsk districts, as well as Polotsk and Vitebsk cities. The age structure of the infected is gradually changing. The epidemic process mainly involves the working-age, fertile population aged 25-39 years (55.5% of cases, 389 people). At the same time, the proportion of infections in the age group over 30 years has significantly increased: from 36% in 2006 to 67.1% in 2011, and 69% in the first quarter of 2012. A significant increase is also observed in the 35-39 age group: from 14.3% in 2008 to 31% in 2012. In addition, there is a trend towards an increase in the proportion of sexual transmission of HIV (from 76% in 2006 to 78.1% in 2011). In the first quarter of 2012, the proportion of sexual transmission of infection was 86.2%. The proportion of sexual transmission of HIV infection is growing among both women and men. Last year, 90.9% of women and 67.5% of men were infected this way. In the first quarter of 2012, it was 78.6% of women and 93.3% of men. From 2006 to 2010, the proportion of parenteral transmission of infection decreased from 20% to 11.5%. In 2011, the proportion of parenteral transmission was 20.5%, and in the first quarter of this year, it was 13.8%. However, there is a trend towards an increase in HIV transmission through injecting drug use. The proportion of workers and employees involved in the epidemic process is increasing. Over the past few years, the proportion of workers among HIV-infected individuals has gradually increased: in 2009, it was 23.9%, in 2010 - 37.2%, in 2011 - 54.8% (40 out of 73 people). Among HIV-infected individuals identified in the first quarter of 2012, workers and employees accounted for 21%. Currently, the epidemic process is characterized by an increase in infections among the rural population. The proportion of rural residents increased from 18% in 2006 to 40% by the end of January-March 2012. Over the entire observation period, 105 children were born to HIV-infected mothers, of whom 59 (56.2%) were removed from observation with a diagnosis of "healthy." 16 children born to HIV-infected mothers have been confirmed with the diagnosis of "HIV infection." 6 children died. As of April 1, 2012, there are 16 HIV-exposed and 16 HIV-infected children registered in the region, including: 14 born to HIV-infected mothers and 2 adolescents under 18 years of age (1 infected through injecting drug use, 1 through sexual transmission). A total of 120 deaths among HIV-infected individuals have been registered in the region, including 69 in the AIDS stage. In the first quarter of 2012, 5 deaths were registered (4 in the AIDS stage, 1 from concomitant diseases). -0-