We are finding new cases every single day. Lopez belives that HIV infection in the city of San Pedro Sula alone could be as high a 240,000 - nearly half the residents. That's more than 10 times government estimates. He argued that Central American governments suppress the true figures because they are afraid of hurting tourism. He calculates that roughly 40,000 people have the virus, more than three times the 13,000 confirmed and registered cases.
Studies show that the virus is spread primarily through heterosexual sex.
Women, the fastest-growing category, contract HIV from unfaithful partners who refuse to wear condoms. Now half are female. In the Avenida Lempira, at the heart of San Pedro Sula's streetwalking district, prostitutes receive free condoms and medical exams at Proyecto La Sala, a storefront outreach center. It is open nightly to serve the illegal but widely tolerated sex workers. Most are teenagers and single mothers.