Jiji Press

The number of people in Japan who developed AIDS without knowing they had HIV in April-June totaled 146, a record high for any quarter since records began in 1984, according to the health ministry.

The ministry said the number of newly reported HIV infections came to 294, the second-highest so far, meaning the total number of newly reported AIDS and HIV patients amounted to a record high of 440.

A ministry official said that while the highest number of AIDS infections occurred in people in their 40s, there was a conspicuous increase in the number of infections among people in their 50s and older. Infections are spreading in a wide range of age groups, the official said.