HIV spreading faster among Chinese youth

According to an Aug. 8 report in the Beijing Morning Post, HIV is spreading faster among Chinese youth, especially via male-to-male transmission. This information comes from an official with the Center for Disease Control.

Wang Lu, an employee of the National Center for STD Control, explained that in 2013, only five provinces reported more than 100 HIV-positive students; in 2014, the number of such provinces exceeded 10, and it continued to go up in 2015.

In 2014, a total of 100,400 new HIV-positive patients were reported in China, representing a two-fold increase from 2008. But in that same period, the number of HIV-positive young people increased almost four-fold. Male-to-male transmission also increased from 58.5 percent to 81.6 percent of all youth cases in 2015.

Over the past five years, the average age of HIV-positive patients in China has been lowering. The annual growth rate of reported HIV cases in students between the ages of 15 and 24 has reached 35 percent.

(PEOPLE'S DAILY ONLINE)