Quantcast
feat0

Positive Pinoy: my personal journey with HIV.

I was diagnosed last March 29, 2012 in a time that I was supposed to leave the country in a couple more weeks. I had my medical exam, and the result returned POSITIVE. From then on, my journey with HIV began.

Read More
feat2

What's New?: gateway to useful links on local and international news and updates about HIV.

A summary collection of medical articles, research news, and science breakthroughs on HIV/AIDS, STIs, and other related diseases.

Read More
feat3

HIV 101: Basic information for the newly-diagnosed.

Understand the basics, know the facts, and take care of yourself. This section contains basic information about HIV/AIDS.

Read More
feat4

Social Media: going viral against HIV/AIDS and other STIs.

The entrance of social media in spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS has gone viral. Famous personalities and the common man alike showed their support not just to HIV education but also with regards to the lives and struggles of the LGBT community.

Read More
feat5

Health Events: listing of wellness and advocacy events for HIV-positive individuals and friends.

This section contains a summary listing of knowledge-sharing events on HIV, mass HIV testing, and other wellness events that will strengthen the overall health of HIV-positive individuals.

Read More

58) My First Poz Birthday!


I almost forgot. March 29 marked my first year as a person living with HIV. Though I still lack my second CD4 count, I am still thankful for surviving a year without co-infections or a need for hospitalization (and I am still not required to take ARVs as my initial CD4 count last June 2012 was 518).

I thank you Lord for giving me another chance in life. Last year was bittersweet, but I gradually realized its essence. Extend my life, Lord, as I still have tasks to accomplish for my family.

I apologize for my faults to some people, and I thank you for the friends I met along the way. :-)


57) Scientists say baby born with HIV apparently cured --- Associated Press

Associated Press/Johns Hopkins Medicine - This image provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine shows Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins' Children's Center in Baltimore.


WASHINGTON (AP) — A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who's now 2½ and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

There's no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus' genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world's second reported cure.

Specialists say Sunday's announcement, at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta, offers promising clues for efforts to eliminate HIV infection in children, especially in AIDS-plagued African countries where too many babies are born with the virus.

"You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we've seen," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, who is familiar with the findings, told The Associated Press.

A doctor gave this baby faster and stronger treatment than is usual, starting a three-drug infusion within 30 hours of birth. That was before tests confirmed the infant was infected and not just at risk from a mother whose HIV wasn't diagnosed until she was in labor.

"I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk, and deserved our best shot," Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi, said in an interview.

That fast action apparently knocked out HIV in the baby's blood before it could form hideouts in the body. Those so-called reservoirs of dormant cells usually rapidly reinfect anyone who stops medication, said Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She led the investigation that deemed the child "functionally cured," meaning in long-term remission even if all traces of the virus haven't been completely eradicated.

Next, Persaud's team is planning a study to try to prove that, with more aggressive treatment of other high-risk babies. "Maybe we'll be able to block this reservoir seeding," Persaud said.

No one should stop anti-AIDS drugs as a result of this case, Fauci cautioned.

But "it opens up a lot of doors" to research if other children can be helped, he said. "It makes perfect sense what happened."

Better than treatment is to prevent babies from being born with HIV in the first place.

About 300,000 children were born with HIV in 2011, mostly in poor countries where only about 60 percent of infected pregnant women get treatment that can keep them from passing the virus to their babies. In the U.S., such births are very rare because HIV testing and treatment long have been part of prenatal care.

"We can't promise to cure babies who are infected. We can promise to prevent the vast majority of transmissions if the moms are tested during every pregnancy," Gay stressed.

The only other person considered cured of the AIDS virus underwent a very different and risky kind of treatment — a bone marrow transplant from a special donor, one of the rare people who is naturally resistant to HIV. Timothy Ray Brown of San Francisco has not needed HIV medications in the five years since that transplant.

The Mississippi case shows "there may be different cures for different populations of HIV-infected people," said Dr. Rowena Johnston of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. That group funded Persaud's team to explore possible cases of pediatric cures.

It also suggests that scientists should look back at other children who've been treated since shortly after birth, including some reports of possible cures in the late 1990s that were dismissed at the time, said Dr. Steven Deeks of the University of California, San Francisco, who also has seen the findings.

"This will likely inspire the field, make people more optimistic that this is possible," he said.

In the Mississippi case, the mother had had no prenatal care when she came to a rural emergency room in advanced labor. A rapid test detected HIV. In such cases, doctors typically give the newborn low-dose medication in hopes of preventing HIV from taking root. But the small hospital didn't have the proper liquid kind, and sent the infant to Gay's medical center. She gave the baby higher treatment-level doses.

The child responded well through age 18 months, when the family temporarily quit returning and stopped treatment, researchers said. When they returned several months later, remarkably, Gay's standard tests detected no virus in the child's blood.

Ten months after treatment stopped, a battery of super-sensitive tests at half a dozen laboratories found no sign of the virus' return. There were only some remnants of genetic material that don't appear able to replicate, Persaud said.

In Mississippi, Gay gives the child a check-up every few months: "I just check for the virus and keep praying that it stays gone."

The mother's HIV is being controlled with medication and she is "quite excited for her child," Gay added.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-baby-born-hiv-apparently-cured-213124051.html

56) January 2013 --- Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry



Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In January 2013, there were 380 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 79% higher compared to the same period last year. Mos of the cases (93%) were males. The median age was 27 years (age range: 17-62 years). The 20-29 year (61%) age-group had the most number of cases.


Reported modes of transmission were sexual contact (376) and needle sharing among injecting drug users (4). Males having sex with other males (82%) were the predominant type of sexual transmission. Most (93%) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting.

In January 2013, the bulk of the new HIV cases came from NCR, Region 4A, Region 3, Region 11, and Region 7.





Source: 

Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry


55) December 2012 - Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry



Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In December 2012, there were 293 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 9% higher compared to the same period last year.

Most of the cases (97%) were males. The median age was 28 years (age range: 18-70 years). The 20-29 year (57%) age-group had the most number of cases. Fifty-two percent (152) of the reported cases were from the National Capital Region (NCR).

Reported mode of transmission were sexual contact (288) and needle sharing among injecting drug users (5). Males having sex with other males (83%) were the predominant type of sexual transmission. Most (95%) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting.


AIDS Cases

Of the 293 HIV positive cases, fourteen were reported as AIDS cases, 12 males and 2 females. The median age is 31 years (age range: 23-55 years). All acquired the infection through sexual contact (4 homosexual, 4 heterosexual, and 6 bisexual). There was no reported death for this month.


Overseas Filipino Workers

Twelve of the 293 (4%) reported cases were OFWs.  There were 11 males and 1 female. The median age was 29 years (age range: 23-56 years). All acquired the infection through sexual contact (6 heterosexual, 3 homosexual, and 3 bisexual).


Geographic Distribution

In December 2012, bulk of the new HIV cases came from NCR, Region 4A, Region 3, Region 11, and Region 7. 





Source: 

Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry


54) "Bareback" orgies raise HIV cases to record levels --- inquirer.net


The Philippines posted its highest ever increase in the number of new HIV infections in January and the number is expected to increase even further in the near future, a Department of Health (DOH) official said on Friday.


Health Assistant Secretary Enrique Tayag said the DOH recorded 380 new HIV cases in January—the highest increase since the government began monitoring HIV/AIDS cases in 1984—even as many sexually-active Filipinos continue to avoid having themselves tested for the virus.

Tayag urged sexually-active Filipinos to always carry and use condoms, adding that unsafe sexual practices like “bareback orgies” among men who have sex with men (MSM) were to blame for the worsening HIV situation in the country.



Highest in history

“Our January report showed that there were 380 new cases that were reported. This is the highest in our history,” Tayag said in a news briefing.

“This means that from an average of nine new cases every day last year, we now have 12 new cases every day. So, our total (of HIV/AIDS) cases has reached 12,082 since 1984,” he added.

In its report, the DOH said that the 380 news cases was 79 percent higher than the 212 reported in January last year. The 380 cases also included 37 overseas Filipino workers.

“Most of the cases (93 percent) were males. The median age was 27 years (age range: 17-62 years).



MSM to blame

The 20-29 year (61 percent) age-group had the most number of cases,” the DOH said.

It said the bulk of the new HIV cases came from the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, the Davao region, and Central Visayas.

Of the 380 new cases, 376 were infected through sexual contact while four were due to needle sharing among injecting drug users.

“Males having sex with other males (82 percent) were the predominant type of sexual transmission. Most (93 percent) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting,” the DOH said.

Tayag said the DOH was saddened by these new figures, pointing out that the Philippines was one of only nine countries where HIV continues to increase by “more than 25 percent.”

“That is why we say that (the number of new cases) will increase further. We are now running out of time because one of the Millennium Development Goals is to reverse this trend by 2015. We might not achieve that,” Tayag said.

He said that it was saddening that many of the new cases were aged 20 to 29 years old, which is considered to be their “productive years.”



Like an umbrella

“We urge everyone … if you cannot abstain (from sex), maintain your relationship inside marriage or be mutually faithful, use a condom to save your life,” Tayag said.

“Don’t believe those who say that condoms have holes and you cannot benefit from them. And always carry it with you,” he said.

It doesn’t mean that when you have one always, you are a bad person. It’s like carrying an umbrella. If you have an umbrella, it does not mean that you want it to rain. You only want to have one just in case it does,” he added.

Tayag said that the number of HIV cases was rising not just because more and more Filipinos were having themselves tested for the virus. He said many still have unprotected sex while the gay community continues to suffer from discrimination.

“Our surveys have been consistent that there are still many who do not have themselves tested … The problem is (unsafe sexual practices). We have monitored many (in the MSM community) who join orgies,” Tayag said.

“They get participants through social media and they do it in their homes. They don’t use condoms … They have a term for it … bareback,” he added.



‘Barebacking orgies’

Jonas Bagas, executive director of the gay civil society group TLF Share Foundation, said the sharp increase in new HIV cases should not surprise health officials.

“They should have anticipated this, not because of the so-called ‘barebacking orgies’ but because of the orgy of ignorance and the rejection of evidence. The persistence of unprotected sex is the manifestation of the problem, not the root of it,” Bagas said.



Source:
Philip C. Tubeza (March 2, 2013)
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/367377/bareback-orgies-raise-hiv-cases-to-record-levels