2011 saw 153 new HIV cases

Prague, Feb 2 (CTK) - A total of 153 new HIV patients, 139 men and 14 women, were registered in the Czech Republic in 2011, the highest number since 1985 when HIV tests were launched, Vratislav Nemecek, head of the AIDS national referential laboratory, told CTK.

AIDS was uncovered in 20 patients last year. Nine people died of it, and another four HIV patients died of other reasons last year, Nemecek said.

Most newly registered patients, 87 percent, caught HIV through having sex. Three fourths of all were men who had sex with men.

Seven men caught AIDS through intravenous application of drugs.

More than a fourth of all patients were foreigners with a long residence permit. A half of them come from Ukraine and Slovakia.

A half of all patients said their home town was Prague.

Of the 153 new patients, only 20 learned about their disease shortly after they caught the infection. Another 111 patients learned about it in its second phase, i.e. from two to ten years after they got infected. Eight people learned about it in the third phase, which means they caught HIV more than ten years ago.

Fourteen of the new patients learned the diagnose only after they had fully blown AIDS, Nemecek said.

A total of 1675 people, 1368 men and 307 women, have tested positive for HIV in the Czech Republic since 1985. AIDS developed in 341 of them.

A total of 178 patients have died of full-blown AIDS and 75 died of other causes, said Nemecek.

He said the number of HIV patients annually increased in the Czech Republic in the past decade.

In 2002, doctors registered 50 new cases, compared to 180 in 2010, he said.

In 2011, the figure returned close to the 2009 level when 156 new patients were registered. "Last year's 153 new patients is the third highest figure...from 1985," Nemecek said.

NGOs and experts say it is still necessary to warn against the AIDS danger. They say people's fear of AIDS has subsided in the past few years, also thanks to new medicines that enable patients to survive longer. People therefore often cease to protect themselves.