HIV infections on the rise in far north Qld

Health authorities fear a worrying trend in the number of HIV infections in far north Queensland could be continuing.

Last year there were 23 diagnoses of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus at the Cairns Base Hospital, a big increase on the 14 cases seen in 2006.

The hospital's director of sexual health, Dr Darren Russell, says there have already been a handful of new infections this year.

He says most involved gay men, but several heterosexual people have also contracted the virus.

"Generally HIV diagnoses around Australia were going down until about 2001-2002 and then they started going back up again। We hadn't noticed that so much in Cairns, but we do seem to be seeing it over the last couple of years here," he said.