The number of people infected with the AIDS virus (HIV) rose again last year. As the Berlin Robert Koch Institute announced on Tuesday, 2,752 patients were diagnosed with the … HIV virus for the first time in 2007. This means that the number of new diagnoses increased by four percent compared to the previous year.
Especially among homosexual men, the number of new infections had risen at an above-average rate. In addition, the high number of syphilis cases, which increased the risk of HIV infection, contributed to the increase. According to the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), among other things, a decline in protection in particularly vulnerable groups has led to an increased risk of infection. Overall, however, the use of condoms as protection against infection is more widespread than ever before.
According to surveys, about three quarters of single people between the ages of 16 and 44 used condoms last year, compared to only 69 percent three years earlier. With total sales of 209 million condoms, more condoms were sold in 2007 than ever before.