DOH: 6,532 new HIV cases in 7 months

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 6,532 new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases were recorded from January to July this year, the Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday.

The DOH said 859 new HIV cases were documented in July alone, bringing to 6,532 the total number of Filipinos infected with HIV, including seven pregnant women. 

The DOH said the figure is slightly higher than the 854 cases recorded in July 2017. Of the number, 22 percent or 193 had clinical manifestations of being advanced HIV infection or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

There were 30 deaths from HIV/AIDS last July.

Based on the latest HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines, four of the seven pregnant women came from the National Capital Region and one case each from Regions 1, 7 and 11. 

Sexual contact remains the predominant mode of transmission, with 841 cases or 98 percent. A total of 687 cases are males who have sex with males.

Ten of the cases were injecting drug users who shared contaminated needles. The DOH documented one case of mother-to-child transmission. Seven cases had no data on the mode of transmission.

The DOH noted that 264 cases came from the National Capital Region followed by Calabarzon with 146 cases; Central Luzon, 75; Western Visayas, 62; Central Visayas, 59, and Davao region with 58.

The DOH has documented 57,134 HIV/AIDS cases since January 1984.