Progression from HIV to AIDS speeds up — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Due to a stronger strain of the human immuno deficiency that originated in Thailand, the progression of HIV into AIDS has sped up from 10 years to five years, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

Eric Tayag, DOH director for knowledge, management and information services, said they received reports from experts about the shortened progression period of HIV into AIDS in cases caused by the Thai strain.

“And that is something that is a (cause of) concern. The circulating virus changes... the one that is circulating now came from Thailand. The strain where the 10-year window period… when you are asymptomatic, now you have five years,” Tayag told The Chiefs on Cignal TV’s One News last night.?

This means that instead of the 10-year period, a person infected with the Thai strain will develop AIDS in five years.?The Thai strain or CRF01 AE was first discovered in Cuba.

A study conducted in 2003 showed that the most common strain circulating in the Philippines at the time was subtype B or the US/Western European strain.

In 30 years since the AIDS virus was first documented, nothing much has changed in the way people view the illness, according to HIV advocate Wanggo Gallaga.

He said the stigma and discrimination still hamper efforts to curb the illness, as these discourage at-risk individuals from undergoing testing.?Mostly, those who undergo testing do not return to get the results for fear of knowing they have contracted the disease.  

?“We have always been struggling about finding the right message. Do we use fear or do we show them it is not as scary as they think because a lot of the reasons why people do not want to be tested or protect themselves is  the stigma attached to HIV,” said Gallaga, who was diagnosed with HIV 10 years ago.?

Until now, he said, they are trying to find the right balance on how to show the urgency of the matter.

Gallaga stressed the importance of early testing to prevent the progression of HIV into AIDS and to avoid the costly treatment of the disease and its “opportunistic infections” like pneumonia. ?He cited his case wherein he had to take 30 pills of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) at one point because he was diagnosed with “end stages” of infection.