Hong Kong - Gay men in Hong Kong are accelerating the spread of HIV by having sex with men they meet over the internet or going to sex parties, a government doctor warned Tuesday.

Studies by the city's Department of Health discovered clusters of cases in which a single source was found to have led to up to 58 HIV infections.

Investigations indicated the clusters were being caused by increasingly promiscuous behaviour among gay men as safe sex practices are forgotten or abandoned, Dr Wong Ka-hing said.

Wong revealed the findings at a press conference where he said that there had been 89 new HIV infections between January and March in the city of 6.9 million.

Of the 89 new HIV cases - 70 men and 19 women, 28 acquired the infection through homosexual or bisexual contact, 27 via heterosexual contact and 10 via drugs. The transmission route in the remaining cases was unknown.

Wong said concern was centred on the clusters of cases and told reporters, "Men who have sex with men account for the vast majority of cluster cases.

"We found several factors, including unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, the use of the internet to source sexual partners and the use of psychotropic drugs before or during sexual activity."

He added: "The participation in sex parties appears to be more common among the cluster cases than the non-cluster cases."

Hong Kong's HIV rates are relatively low in world terms, but doctors have repeatedly expressed concern in recent years that safe sex practices were being abandoned. (dpa)