THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) recorded 651 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in October, a 21-percent jump over the same period last year.
Of the 651 cases, 60 had developed into full-blown AIDS. There were also 50 related deaths recorded in October, according to the latest report by the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.
Last week, the DOH sounded the alarm over the rising number of HIV cases in the country, noting that from January to October, a total of 6,552 individuals were diagnosed with HIV.
The figure is 37 times higher than the total number of people diagnosed with HIV for the entire year of 2001.
The DOH said that in 2000, an HIV case was diagnosed every three days. This year, one case is detected every hour. Jocelyn R. Uy