GAY sex on holiday has probably given some East Lancashire sun-seekers the virus that can lead to Aids.

Health chiefs have urged holidaymakers to practise safer sex, after figures revealed that many HIV sufferers in East Lancashire may have contracted the disease abroad.

They also revealed that cases of HIV sufferers catching the disease through heterosexual sex was increasing.

East Lancashire Health Authority disclosed that there were 35 known HIV victims in the district - 25 of whom probably caught the disease through gay sex.

They have stressed that there were probably several more sufferers who were unaware they had the disease.

Chairman William Ashworth said: "It is clear that we must advise people going on holiday and travelling abroad to be careful."

Dr Stephen Morton, director of public health, said the Aids epidemic in the UK had not turned out to be as prolific as had been predicted ten years ago.

In East Lancashire there have been 12 recorded Aids-related deaths.

Dr Morton said improved treatment and drug therapy was leading to longer survival times for people with HIV.

But he said HIV was three times more prevalent in France and even more common in Spain - a popular holiday haunt for East Lancashire people.

He said it was vital for education programmes to be continued.

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