Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; Wednesday, November 26, 1997; 5:58 a.m. EST
Christopher Burns, Associated Press Writer
One in every 100 sexually active adults worldwide is infected with HIV, and only one in 10 knows they are infected, UNAIDS said in a report released in Paris.
"If current transmission rates hold steady, by the year 2000 the number of people living with HIV/AIDS will soar to 40 million," the report said. "The full impact of the epidemic in terms of AIDS mortality is only just beginning."
Earlier figures on HIV infection were far lower because infections were occurring at a much more alarming rate than previously thought and calculations of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa were grossly underestimated, the report said.
Some 5.8 million people have been infected in 1997, and an estimated 5.3 million were infected in 1996, up from the count of 3.1 million people that doctors estimated a year ago.
"It is estimated that 2.3 million people died of AIDS in 1997 -- a 50 percent increase over 1996. Nearly half of those deaths were in women, and 460,000 were in children under 15," the report said.
Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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