Chinese executive Vice-Minister of Health Gao Qiang confirmed at a press conference that an AIDS patient has been infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

In reply to a reporter's question, Gao said an AIDS patient from China's northern province of Shanxi was diagnosed as confirmed SARS patient last Saturday in Beijing You'an Hospital.

According to Gao's introduction, the patient went to Beijing to receive medical treatment of AIDS last year in You'an Hospital. When the patient got fever this year, his family sent him directly into You'an Hospital again by a taxi.

The patient did not stop on his way to the hospital, nor transmitted the disease to others, Gao stressed.

(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2003)