Aizawl: Of the 437 full-blown AIDS cases in
Mizoram 171 people, including 72 women, had died in the state
in the last 20 years, official sources said.
Of the 171 deaths, three deaths were reported during
April and May this year, State AIDS Control Society (MSACS)
officials said.
HIV infection was first detected in the state in 1990.
Describing the increasing detection of HIV positive cases
as "alarming", the officials said that 126 and 101 fresh HIV
positive infections were detected in April and May
respectively.
The situation is more alarming due to the fact that the
main factor for the spread of the disease is through sexual
contact", the officials said.
Of the total HIV positives, 1,559 males and 1,349
females were infected through sexual contact, they said.
Meanwhile, 1138 men and 230 women became HIV positive
through blood transfusion as they were intravenous drug users,
sharing syringes and needles while taking drugs, the officials
said.
The number of people turning HIV positive due to
transmission from infected mother to babies during pregnancy
was 171, they said.
MSACS officials said that people belonging to 25-34
age group were the most vulnerable as of the total 4,608
infected people, 1868 people belonged to this age group.
Even younger people are not immune from HIV with 183
people below 14 years of age, the officials said.
PTI
