HONG KONG - A total of 513 new cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections were recorded in 2012, compared with 438 reported cases in 2011, the city's Health Department announced Wednesday.

Reviewing Hong Kong's Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) situation in 2012 at a press conference, consultant of the department Dr Wong Ka-hing said sexual contact remained the major mode of HIV transmission in Hong Kong.

Of the 513 new cases, 254 acquired the infection via homosexual or bisexual exposure and 126 via heterosexual contact. There were seven cases of drug injection, one case of perinatal transmission and one case via blood or blood product transmission outside Hong Kong. The routes of transmission of the remaining 124 cases had yet to be determined due to inadequate information.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, a total of 120 people, comprising 93 males and 27 females, tested positive for HIV, taking the cumulative total of locally reported HIV infections to 5,783 since 1984.

Twenty-five new cases of AIDS were reported in the fourth quarter of 2012, bringing to 1,353 the total number of locally confirmed AIDS cases reported since 1985.

In this quarter, the most common AIDS-defining illness was Pneumocystis Pneumonia, a kind of chest infection.