The number of people in Japan reported infected with HIV reached a record high of 1,048 in 2007, while that of people reported to have developed AIDS came to 400, bringing the total to 1,448, preliminary data released Tuesday by the government's AIDS Surveillance Committee showed.
It is the first time HIV infections exceeded 1,000 in a single year. The total of new HIV and AIDS cases was also a record high.
It was the fifth year in a row the total figure set a record high.
"As the number of people getting checks rapidly increases, the number of (HIV) positives grows fast," Aikichi Iwamoto, chairman of the committee, said. "We believe that the number of people who are actually infected is increasing."
By gender, 1,336 of the total were men.
Most of the HIV infections were attributed to homosexual contact, as 849 were infected through contact between members of the same sex, while 367 were infected through heterosexual activity. Six were infected through drug use.
By age, 568 were in their 30s, 348 in their 20s and 292 in their 40s.
"The number of infections may jump explosively if infections spread among drug abusers. We need to watch carefully," said Iwamoto.