STATE BRIEFS.(B SECTION)

FORT LAUDERDALE

AIDS cases increase for first time in years

New cases of AIDS in Florida increased by a surprising 24 percent last year, making it the state's first real jump in more than a decade, health officials said.

Officials said they hope the spike in AIDS cases is only a temporary issue caused by a major campaign of HIV testing that found many new victims.

But some also fear a growing failure of drug cocktails, and an increase in patients who didn't know they were infected until they got sick, contributed to the increase.

In Broward County, AIDS cases went up 49 percent in 2004 compared with the year before, …