April 2012: New Cases

I really don’t know if this is good news but to me it is good news after all. After two straight months of record-setting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases, the month of April saw lower cases of the deadly virus. Great then!

According to the Department of Health-National Epidemiology Center (DOH-NEC) Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry report, 233 new HIV cases were recorded in April this year.

The figure is much lower than the 313 and 274 cases in March and February 2012, respectively.

The report, however, said the number is “36 percent higher as compared to the same period last year, which had 171.” 

Eight of the total new cases were also found to have progressed into full-blown acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids).

“Of the Aids cases, there was one reported death for this month, which is a 22-year-old male,” the report said.

Most of the cases were again acquired through sexual contact with 210, 184 cases of which come from males-having-sex-with-male (MSM), accounting for 88 percent of the total cases.

Homosexual contact resulted to 113 new cases, followed by bisexual contact with 71 and heterosexual contact with 26.

The other 23 new cases were found to have come from injecting drug use or needle sharing.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were also found to have contributed 18 new HIV cases, with all coming from sexual contact.

Half of the cases were found in the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by the Central Visayas (16%) and Calabarzon (15%).

For January to April 2012, there have already been 1,032 HIV cases reported, with 40 already progressing to full-blown Aids cases.

Since 1984, there have been 9,396 HIV cases in the country, with Aids cases already numbering to 1,018.

Credits:
Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry NEC-DOH