AIDS and HIV Cases in South Korea Are Increasing

The rates of AIDS and HIV cases in South Koreans have risen sharply over the past ten years.

According to recent data, despite the worldwide decrease, the rates of AIDS and HIV cases in South Koreans have risen sharply over the past ten years. The HIV and AIDS infections have decreased worldwide by more than 35 percent from 2000 to 2015, as stated by the data gathered by the World Health Organization.

However, in South Korea, the HIV cases quadrupled in the same period. While in 2010 there were only around 220 newly infected patients with HIV, in 2015 the number could reach more than 1,018 new patients. Starting 2013, the number of newly infected patients each year did not go under 1,000. More than 93 percent of the infected patients were men in their early 20s and 30s.

Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in South Korea’s spend nearly $8.2 million each year to prevent and fight HIV infections, their strategic methods and efforts appear not to be able to lower the number of HIV-AIDS patients in the region. The first HIV-positive individual was recorded in the country in 1985. Last year, the number of people living with HIV in the country reached 10,502, which marked the first time that the 10,000 limit was surpassed in the history of the disease in South Korea.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the US there were nearly 6,955 deaths associated directly with HIV and more than 12,900 deaths of individuals diagnosed with HIV diseases categorized as AIDS in 2013.

HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system which is considered the organism’s genetic defense system against all diseases. When a person is infected with the virus, they will find it almost impossible to fight diseases and infections.

As the HIV advances, AIDS syndrome is produced. This syndrome appears when the body is too weak to fight most of the infections. It is considered the last stage of HIV when the body is attacked by many diseases and infections because it can no longer protect itself. Ultimately, if the illnesses are not treated properly, it will lead to death.

Though there is currently no known cure for HIV or AIDS, there are many individuals who can live a long and healthy life with the disease by administering proper treatment and dealing with potential side-effects.

Image source: Flickr

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Nancy Young

When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.