New HIV cases up 25% in September, says DOH

Children stands next to banners displayed during a march to mark World Aids Day in Olongapo city, Zambales, northern Philippines on December 1, 2008. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The number of new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rose by 25 percent in September compared to the same period last year, a Department of Health (DOH) report showed.

The Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry showed that there were 316 new HIV cases in September with 54 percent of them coming from the National Capital Region (NCR).

“This was 25 percent higher compared to the same period last year. Most of the cases (96 percent) were males. The median age was 28 years (age range: 16-70 years). The 20-29 year (57 percent) age-group had the most number of cases,” the DOH said.

It said 312 of the new HIV cases were infected through sexual contact while only four cases were due to injecting illegal drugs.

“Males having sex with other males (82 percent) were the predominant type of sexual transmission (and) most (97 percent) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting,” the DOH said.

Of the 316 HIV positive cases, 10 had developed into the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and all of them were males, it added.

The DOH said 42 of the 316 new HIV cases involved overseas Filipinos workers, 38 of them were male while four were female.

“All acquired the infection through sexual contact (17 heterosexual, 13 homosexual and 12 bisexual),” it added.

The DOH said that a total of 2,466 new HIV cases had been reported this year, with 126 of them reported as AIDS cases. Ninety-eight percent of these AIDS cases were acquired through sexual contact.