The number of cases of HIV in Ireland increased by 10% last year.
According to figures just published by the National Disease Surveillance Centre, there were 399 newly diagnosed cases of HIV in Ireland in 2003.
Of the 399 cases, 202 were male and 196 were female. Information on gender was not available for one of the cases. 221 were heterosexually acquired.
79% of the cases were in 20 to 40-year-olds. Of these, half were born in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of new diagnoses among gay and bisexual men increased from 46 in 2002 to 75 last year.
The NDSC's specialist in public health medicine, Dr Mary Cronin, said the number of infections among gay and bisexual men is likely to reflect an increase in risky sexual behaviour in this group.
Dr Cronin said increases in risky sexual behaviour, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections have been reported from Western Europe.
She said the number of diagnoses in people born in sub-Saharan Africa mirrors the epidemiology of HIV in other Western European countries and is not unexpected given that 70% of the world's HIV cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa.
