of AIDS reported in July.

This was a decrease compared to July 1996 when two new cases were reported.

The new case was a black female, between the age of 40 to 49, who contracted the disease through heterosexual activity.

So far this year, the number of new cases is also down -- with 14 reported compared to 19 last year. The total number of reported AIDS cases since 1985, when the Island began recording such figures, is 393.

One person succumbed to the disease in July, bringing the total for this year to 311 people, said the Health Department, which monitors the disease.

In other health news, the monthly report on communicable diseases showed that chicken pox was on the rise when compared to last year.

Twenty-one cases of chicken pox was reported in July, while only four were reported in July 1996. To date this year there have been 156 cases of chicken pox versus 124 during the same seven-month period last year.

But Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann yesterday told The Royal Gazette that there was no cause for concern.

"The difference is really insignificant and nothing to be alarmed about,'' he added. Dr. Cann also said that there was no cause to be alarmed over an increase in gastroenteritis -- inflammation of the stomach and intestines -- in children under the age of five.

So far this year there have been 145 cases versus three in 1996.

"We did have a small outbreak of viral gastroenteritis around that time,'' he recalled. "But it was not significant.''