SOME 4.2 million South Africans — more than one in 10 — were HIV-positive at the end of last year, the health ministry estimated on Tuesday. That is an increase of 600000 on 1998. More than half the people infected with the Aids precursor are aged between 20 and 30, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told journalists. “This has tremendous impact on the social fabric of the country and on its economy, as this age category represents the youngest portion of our productive class,” she said. As breadwinners died, child survival was becoming one of the critical areas, she said. Among pregnant women, the rate dropped slightly — from 22.8% in 1998 to 22.45 last year. “The 1999 findings suggest that South Africa may be seeing a shift in the epidemiological profile of HIV, in which a small degree of’stabilisation’ may be occurring,” the minister said, but added that the figures might have been influenced by factors such as higher mortality rates among HIV-infected people and fewer pregnancies among HIV-infected women.