PAVIA, Iloilo – A total of 629 people across the country tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in April, the latest report from the Department of Health’s Epidemiology Bureau showed.
Most of the new cases were from the National Capital Region (234, or 37 percent of the total number), based on data from the HIV, AIDS and Antiretroviral Therapy Registry of the Philippines (HARP).
The NCR — where the capital city of Manila belongs — has consistently posted the highest number of HIV cases since the first infection in the Philippines was recorded in 1984, HARP data showed.
Of the new cases, majority (323) was in the prime of their lives — aged between 25 and 34 years old. A younger age group posted the next highest number: 15–24 years old, 190 cases.
Ninety-seven new cases belonged to the 35–49 years old age group, while 17 were aged 50 years old and above. Two new people living with HIV were aged less than 15 years old.
Eighty-seven percent of the new cases (545) were asymptomatic — not showing any symptom — while 84 infections were full-blown AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) cases, the Health department said.
The following rounded out the top five regions with the highest new HIV cases in April this year: Region 4A (Calabarzon, 109, or 17 percent); Region 7 (Central Visayas, 71, or 11 percent); Region 3 (Central Luzon, 56, or 9 percent); and Region 6 (Western Visayas, 25, or 4 percent).
It should be noted that the cases in April this year were the lowest monthly new case figure in 16 months. This year, 968 new HIV cases were recorded in March (the highest in 16 months), 849 in February and 844 in January.
In 2016, the highest number of new cases was recorded in June (841) while the lowest was posted in March (735), HARP data showed.
Sexual contact continued to be the most common reported mode of transmission, accounting for 609 of the new cases in April.
Eighty-seven percent of infections transmitted through sexual contact were among males who have sex with males, or MSM. Among new cases in April, 596 were males.
Transmission through needle sharing among injecting drug users posted 18 cases, while mother-to-child transmission had two cases.
AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection.
HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections.
Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections or infection-related cancers.
From January 1984 to April 2017, there had been 42,912 cases of HIV infection reported to the HARP, the Health department said./PN
