Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines
In November 2012, there were 284 new HIV Ab sero-positive individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) and reported to the HIV and AIDS Registry. This was 34% higher compared to the same period last year.
Most of the cases (97%) were males. The median age was 28 years (age range: 17-59 years). The 20-29 years (52%) age-group had the most number of cases. Forty-seven percent (134) of the reported cases were from the National Capital Region (NCR).
Reported mode of transmission were sexual contact (282) and needle sharing among injecting drug users (2). Males having sex with other males (82%) were the predominant type of sexual transmission. Most (92%) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting.
AIDS Cases
Of the 284 HIV positive cases, twenty-four were reported as AIDS cases, all were males. The median age is 29 years (age range: 20-45 years). Ninety-six percent (23) acquired the infection through sexual contact (15 homosexual, 4 heterosexual, and 14 bisexual) and 1 acquired through needle sharing among injecting drug users. There was no reported death for this month.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
Thirty-five of the 284 (12%) reported cases were OFWs. There were 32 males and 3 females. The median age was 32 years (age range: 21-52 years). All acquired the infection through sexual contact (12 heterosexual, 16 homosexual, and 7 bisexual).
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