DOH: 912 HIV cases recorded in March

A total of 912 new human immunodeficiency virus cases were recorded in March, bringing to 2,804 the number of HIV cases posted in the first quarter of the year, the Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday.

Data from the DOH showed that 16 percent or 148 cases had clinical manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the advanced stage of the infection.

The DOH also reported 21 deaths due to HIV/AIDS for March.

According to the DOH’s HIV/AIDS Registry, 99 percent of the cases acquired the infection through sexual contact.

The DOH said males who have sex with males (MSM) accounted for 542 cases; male to female, 125 cases; and those having sex with both males and females, 232 cases.

Another mode of transmission, needle sharing among injecting drug users accounted for only one percent or 11 cases.

Thirty-two percent of the cases came from the National Capital Region followed by Calabarzon with 17 percent and Central Visayas with three percent.

The DOH noted that HIV/ AIDS cases were reported last March from Western Visayas and Davao region.

Eighty overseas Filipino workers were diagnosed with HIV in March. They acquired the infection through sexual contact.

Of the 2,804 HIV cases recorded in the first quarter of the year, 452 have progressed into AIDS with 73 deaths.