OVER 700 new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases have been recorded last October, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Based on the October 2020 HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines, there were 735 new HIV cases, vastly lower than the 1,147 new cases recorded in October 2019.
Of the October 2020 cases, 21 percent or 153 cases had clinical manifestations of being advanced HIV infection or acquired immunodeficiency deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The DOH also reported 248 deaths from HIV/AIDS for the month of October.
Sexual contact remained the predominant mode of transmission with 725 (99%), of which 637 (88%) were males who had sex with males (MSM).
Male-to-male sex accounted for 437 cases; followed by 200 of those having sex with both male and female; and 88 from male-to-female sex.
There was one case of mother-to-child transmission while nine cases had no data on the mode of transmission.
More than a third (40%, 295) were from the National Capital Region (NCR); followed by Calabarzon (20%, 146); Central Luzon (16%, 121); Western Visayas (7%, 54); and SOCCSKSARGEN (5%, 36).
For the first 10 months of 2020, there were 6,362 new HIV cases, including 1,287 AIDS cases, and 716 deaths.
Since 1984, there have been 81,169 HIV cases, with 10,552 AIDS cases and 4,444 deaths.
