DOH reports 875 new HIV/AIDS cases in January

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MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) has logged 875 new HIV/AIDS cases, as well as 11 pregnant women, in January.

This raises the total number of recorded HIV/AIDS cases in the country to 95,212 since January 1984, when the country logged its first case.

According to the most recent report of the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau, four of the 11 pregnant women are from the National Capital Region (NCR) while three are from Caraga, two from Central Visayas and one each from Central Luzon and Davao Region.

Their ages ranged between 19 and 32 years old.

The DOH stated that an average of 28 persons were diagnosed to be HIV-positive per day in January.

Among the 875 cases, 264 – only 20 are female – have advanced into full-blown AIDS.

Based on the data, 426 of the cases are in the 25 to 34 age group; followed by 283 cases aged 15 to 24; 145 cases, aged 35 to 24; 17 cases, aged 50 and older. Four cases are aged less than 15 years old.

The NCR had 285 cases, followed by Calabarzon with 156, Central Luzon with 100, Western Visayas with 65, Davao Region with 50, and Central Visayas with 50 cases.

According to the DOH, 863 of the 875 cases were infected through sexual contact, three through the sharing of infected needles, and one through mother-to-child transmission.

The agency noted that 592 of the sexual infections were male to male sex while 192 were sex with male and female partners and 46 were male-female contacts.