Health officials announced on February 5 that the number of new HIV infections in Sweden rose by 20 percent in the past year, Agence France-Presse/Google reports (afp.google.com, 2/5). Total new HIV infections in 2007 were around 500, compared with 390 the previous year.
According to AFP, an expert with the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control said the increase was especially prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM) and intravenous-drug users. The number of infections among MSM in Sweden increased from 50 in 2006 to around 80 last year. Health officials also report that while 35 intravenous-drug users were diagnosed in 2006, that number doubled the following year. Health officials attribute the rise in infections to countrywide apathy toward HIV/AIDS.
“Interest in HIV/AIDS has gradually declined as people have become more accustomed to the threat,” Swedish researcher Claes Herlitz told AFP. “But perhaps the fear has declined too much. Risky sexual behavior has increased and a greater number of people are having casual sex without using a condom.”
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