Bulgarian HIV experts have raised the alarm over an unprecedented growth in infections, saying a new case was registered every day during the first week of the month.

"We have never seen anything like this before," Tonka Vurleva, head of the program for HIV/AIDS prevention with Bulgaria's Health Ministry told Trud daily.

The lethal disease has been spreading mostly among men, younger people and residents of larger cities. It has already crossed into the mainstream population and is taking its toll among people from all ages, social groups and professions.

The latest cases include two young men, who contracted the disease after sexual contacts with infected prostitutes in Africa and Latin America. Another three are young intravenous drug users, including an 18-year-old boy.

One hundred and two new cases of HIV positive Bulgarians have been added to the deadly statistics since the beginning of the year, taking the total registered up to 791. The real number of HIV positive, however, is believed to top 10,000.

Experts stress that the antiretroviral therapy currently used in Bulgaria gives HIV-positive people the chance to live 15-20 years longer, despite the heavy disease.

Meanwhile the United Nations slashed its estimates of how many people are infected with the AIDS virus, from nearly 40 million to 33 million.

In a report to be issued on Tuesday, the UN says revised estimates on HIV in India account for a large part of the decrease.

The agency admitted it overestimated how many people are infected with the incurable virus, and said better methods of collecting data show it is not quite a common as feared.

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