Surge in HIV cases slows down in April

THE growth of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) in April was slower compared to the past two months.

According to the latest HIV/Aids Registry of the Philippines, 560 new HIV cases were reported in the month of April, lower than 646 new cases in February and record-setting 667 cases in March.

The April figure however was 42 percent higher compared to the same period last year, which was at 393.

The DOH had also said that it expects monthly cases to rise by 10 to 20 percent after the government conducted the National HIV Testing Week last May.

Of the 560 new cases, 36 have progressed already into full-blown Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) cases.
Sixteen, on the other hand, died last April, said the DOH.

A total of 547 cases (97.67 percent) of the new cases were acquired through sexual transmission, mostly from the men-having-sex-with-men (MSM) population, which accounted for 477 cases or 87 percent.

Homosexual contact was responsible for 295 cases (54 percent); followed by bisexual contact with 182 cases (33 percent); and 70 cases (13 percent) from heterosexual contact.

Injecting drug use accounted for the transmission of 12 new cases, while there was a lone case of mother-to-child transmission recorded in April.

More than one-third (37 percent) or 209 new HIV cases in April came from the National Capital Region (NCR); followed by 102 (18 percent) in Calabarzon; 48 (9 percent) in Central Luzon; 40 (7 percent) in Central Visayas; and 37 (7 percent) in Davao Region.

The number of new cases brings to 2,409 the number of HIV cases recorded in just the first four months of the year, with 164 already developing into Aids cases and 65 deaths.

Since 1984, there are already 24,936 HIV cases recorded in the country, including 2,213 Aids cases and 1,183 deaths. (HDT/Sunnex)