The number of new HIV cases recorded during the first half of this year in Sweden has increased 40% compared with the same time period last year and is at a record high, Xinhuanet reports.

According to the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, 252 new HIV cases were reported during the first half of
2007, the highest figure since reporting began in 1987.

Anders Blaxhult, deputy state epidemiologist at SIIDC, said that HIV cases have increased among heterosexual people, injection drug users and men who have sex with men.

Blaxhult attributed the increase to immigration, adding that more than half of the new cases reported were among recent immigrants to the country.

According to Xinhuanet, the majority of HIV-positive people in the country are heterosexual, although HIV among IDUs is increasing faster than among any other group.

From January to June, there were 29 reported HIV cases among IDUs, nearly three times the number reported during the same period in 2006 (Xinhuanet, 7/5).