Health officials in Kyrgyzstan say they have diagnosed 70 new cases of HIV infection in children in the south of the country.
More than 110,000 children between the ages of 7 and 2 were screened in response to a mounting scandal over accidental HIV transmissions in regional hospitals.
More than a dozen health workers in the region have been charged with negligence in connection with nearly 200 previous cases of children being inadvertently infected with HIV.
Officials said 10 children in the Jalal-Abad region and 60 children in the Osh region were found to have been infected with the potentially deadly virus.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said in a statement that the infected children were under medical supervision and receiving antiretroviral drug treatment.
Based on RFE/RL and agency reports