A total of 347 people were found to be infected with HIV in Shenzhen last year, with experts saying it is a crucial time in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The number is 180 percent more than in 2003. AIDS experts called for people to be on high alert against the deadly virus, warning that the number could reach 500 by the end of this year.

Professor Feng Tiejian with the municipal center for disease control and prevention (CDC) said drug addicts using needles still made up the majority of HIV carriers in Shenzhen, followed by those infected through sexual contact. Female HIV/AIDS carriers were on the rise, but the growth had not accelerated, Feng said.

An improved monitoring system also contributed to more findings of HIV/AIDS infection, experts said.

Pregnant women, patients undergoing operations and blood donors are required to have HIV tests. The city provides free blood tests for people who volunteer for examinations for HIV, free treatment for poor AIDS patients, free education for orphans of parents with AIDS and free HIV checks and treatment for pregnant women.

Doctor Zhou Houqing with the city's No. 2 people's hospital said his hospital was receiving people volunteering for HIV checks every day, and most of them were men in their 30s worrying about becoming infected with HIV through sex.

Zhou said people should be encouraged to undergo HIV tests and urged more drug addicts using needles to take tests.

Editor: Donald