Penza, 26 July 2016. PenzaNews. An 11-year-old child in the Penza region has been diagnosed with AIDS in the first half of 2016, the press service of the regional Rospotrebnadzor department informed PenzaNews.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to them, the child arrived from Uzbekistan with four non-infected family members a year ago, and his current affliction is complicated with pneumocystosis.

Moreover, another child with AIDS, 6, arrived into the region from Dushanbe after having been diagnosed with the illness, the Rospotrebnadzor department added.

“We also registered two teenage cases – a Penza girl, 17, who was infected through sexual contact, and another, 17, who got AIDS due to her drug addiction,” the press service noted.

Overall, there were 211 newly registered cases in the region over the first half of 2016 – 15.56 cases per 100,000 population, or 3.8% lower year-to-year.

“The infection rate grew by 4.6% in the Penza region, and the rate remains higher than the region-wide average since 2011: based on our data over the 6 months, there are an average of 23 people with diagnosed illness per 100,000, which is 51.2% higher than the average in the region,” they added.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, 55 of the infected people died (7 more than a year ago), while 24 people (10 more than a year ago) died from AIDS itself rather than other cases.

“Overall, there are over 2,700 people infected with AIDS in the Penza region, including the deceased, as well as those who left or arrived in the region with the diagnosis,” they regional department concluded.