IT APPEARS that not only love was shared during the month of February but also human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
This after the Department of Health (DOH) was able to record a total of 849 new HIV cases.
"This was 13% higher compared to the same period last year, which was 751," said the February 2017 HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines (HARP) report.
Prior to the celebration of Valentine's Day last February 14, the DOH had repeatedly called on the public to observe safe sex in a bid to avoid acquiring sexually-transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.
Of the 849 new HIV cases, a total of 94 were full-blown acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases.
There were also 95 deaths from HIV/AIDS reported in February.
Sexual contact continues to be the number one mode of transmission with 828, most of which are from the male-having-sex-with-male (MSM) population with 707.
Homosexual contact had the highest number with 442, followed by the bisexual contact with 265, while heterosexual contact led to 121 cases.
Nineteen cases of injecting drug users were also recorded as transmitting HIV, as well as two cases of mother-to-child transmission.
Majority of the cases continue to be recorded in the National Capital Region (NCR) with 310; followed by Calabarzon with 129; Central Luzon with 102; Central Visayas with 79; and Davao Region with 52.
A total of 63 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were also found to have acquired HIV/AIDS, all of which were infected through sexual contact.
For the first two months, the DOH has already reported a total of 1,693 new HIV cases, including 184 AIDS cases, and 128 deaths.
Since 1984, there are already 41,315 HIV cases, including 3,849 AIDS cases, and 2,097 deaths. (HDT/VoxPop Philippines)