A new Israeli study has found that the number of HIV positive men in the gay community has risen over the last few years, due to virus carriers aware of their condition who continue to have unprotected sex, scientists said this week.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and several leading hospitals including Sheba Medical Center, Rambam Medical Center, Hadassah and Kaplan, found that 12 percent of gay men recently infected with the HIV virus were infected by strains resistant to medication an indication that they were infected by someone who has been treated for the virus.

"Carriers of HIV viruses that are resistant to medication were infected by carriers that have been treated ? which is what developed the virus' resistance," head of the study Dr. Zehava Grossman from Sheba Medical Center said.

"It can be assumed that there are members of the gay community who are aware that they carry the HIV virus, and still continue to behave irresponsibly and infect others," she added.

The study also showed that the number of newly infected straight people stood on 5 percent over the past few years, as opposed to the 1990s, during which the gay community's infection rates dropped dramatically.

The study also concluded that the HIV outbreak of recent years was similar in magnitude to the initial virus outbreak in the 1980s, , adding that over 38 percent of those infected in the 1980s were gay.

Over the last decade the rates have risen, with 35 percent of new carriers tested in 2009 identified as being gay, a figure similar to that of the 1980s.

There are currently over 400 HIV carriers in Israel.

I beg to differ on the claim that "there are currently over 400 HIV carriers in Israel".