DOH7 Warns Against HIV-AIDS

The Department of Health (DOH) is continuing its relentless information drive against the alarming increase of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that victimized more than 500 Filipinos as of October 2014.

“This number is 9 per cent higher than that of last year (2013) with 491 cases recorded by the DOH”, Dr. Chamberlaine Agtuca, Assistant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-AIDS Core Team Physician said.

During the Kapihan sa PIA and DYMR last week, Agtuca said majority of those positively infected with HIV-AIDS were male with 510 in number, while 27 were female, a national statistical figure reveals.

However Agtuca explained that Central Visayas, which recorded 43 AIDS cases as of September this year, ranks third in the whole country as far as HIV-AIDS is concerned.

Agtuca added that out of 1,875 AIDS cases recorded in the country from 1984 to present, 981 were in Central Visayas.

Agtuca also showed the breakdown list, out of the 981 HIV-AIDS cases in region 7, Cebu has 710, Bohol 52, Negros Oriental 27, and Siquijor 2.

According to Agtuca, keeping track with the mortality rate on HIV-AIDS is difficult to attain because some of them died due to the apparent symptomatic infections they have acquired.

However, to avoid this fatal disease, Agtuca advised everybody to always consult with the nearest Social Hygiene Clinic for voluntary counseling and HIV testing.

He also warned everybody especially to those who are still single to abstain from sex as much as possible, or if can not be avoided, to consistently use condoms and do not use illegal drugs.

“But to married persons, as mush as possible, be faithful to your partner and educate yourself,” Agtuca said.

He explained that HIV could easily be contaminated, “if you are playing unprotected sex with various partners, playing sex with the same sex partner, already possessed sexually transmitted infection from birth through an infected mother, and sharing needles, syringes, rinse water or other equipment used to prepare illicit drugs for injection.

Agtuca also revealed that for those who are not taking any retro-viral medications, there are four stages of HIV-AIDS before anybody succumbed to this deadly disease.

The first stage is the abnormal dysfunctions of vital organs and the symptomatic signs are continuing fever, rashes, headache and fatigue.

The second stage can be sensed through weight lose, cough, and sore throat; the third stage is the uncontrolled night sweats, and diarrhea, and the fourth stage is the mouth or genital ulcers, swollen lymph glands mainly on the neck, joint pains and shortness of breath.

Agtuca warned that unless a person who has these symptomatic signs consults with a physician for a medical advise, “his days to live are just counted.”