Media reports spread fear, not cure

There is no official figure showing the numbers of the phobia groups, but experts fear the population is growing, especially since unprotected sex has become the main transmission channel of HIV in China.

"The media hype to some extent led some people to panic and to later develop a psychological phobia to the disease," says Zhang Beichuan, a well-known Chinese AIDS expert.

While the aim of these media reports is to investigate the spread of HIV/AIDS, the disease is described as being so horrible that the reports negatively influence the public, he says.

Cai Weiping notes that the use of Internet increases the amount of those in the "HIV-negative AIDS" group.

"They chat online and enhance each other's psychological suggestions," he says. "It is their anxiety, rather than the disease, that has been contagious."

His view is shared by Zhang Beichuan, who suggests that treatment for the psychological problem could be improved.

Lin Peng, head of the Institute for AIDS Prevention and Treatment under the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, does not rule out the possibility of finding a new virus in the future.

Blood samples were sent to some U.S.-based laboratories in January this year, and as of the end of March, there had been no reports of an unknown virus found in one-third of the tested samples.

"With the development of medical science, it is hard to say whether a new virus would be found or not," Lin said.

"But one thing is for sure: currently, no new infectious disease has been discovered."

He called on the public to be sensible.

"People should also keep themselves clean, always stay away from commercial sex and drugs," he said.