CV HIV now endemic,
70% unlike US strain

CORTES, Bohol, July 13 (PIA)—There has been a viral mutation in the virus that has been causing acute immune deficiency problems among patients in the Philippines. 

This was according to Human Immune Deficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) Core Team (HACT) from Central Visayas, Dr. Chamberlain Agtuca. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the Philippine Medical Association with Philippine College of Physicians Bohol Chapter Inc., sponsored 10th Post Graduate Course billed as Controversies in the Practice of Medicine at the Grand Ballroom of the MetroCentre Hotel in Tagbilaran City, Dr. Agtuca along with Post Grad Course Committee Overall Chairman Dr. Angelito Lechago bared to the media the need to spread the information faster than the disease causing virus could replicate and possibly mutate again. 

Also at the PCP Bohol innovation with the introduction of media “Meet the experts” was Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital HIV-AIDS Treatment Hub chief Dr. Wilnilia Causing. 

Agtuca, who spoke about Stigmas of HIV during the physicians’ Continuing Professional Development (CPD) said that the HIV that first entered the country has mutated, at least in Central Visayas, into a strain that is different than the viral strain that has been identified as coming from the United States. 

“Now, it is 70% mutated from the US virus strain,” breaks Dr Agtuca.

“We are seeing a strain that is becoming endemic to the Visayas,” Agtuca, who sits in the Regional HACT at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City revealed. 

Asked how this happened, Agtuca said it could be partly due to a specific practice which has caught the interest of Australian doctors who did a study of the virus here. 

“Using Nubain, a very cheap, very accessible injectable drug, and the noted high prevalence of HIV among males having sex with males or transgender women having sex with men, and ” could be the culprits, the three physicians agree. 

Nubain is not much of a problem. People using it by sharing needles, is. 

“With Nubain, one shot which allows a user to attain a ‘high’ costs about P20.00, while a new syringe is about P25, meaning it is more costly for one to buy a syringe, that users just share needles in shooting galleries,” Agtuca pointed out. 

And to illustrate the alarming situation, Agtuca, who has over a thousand patients at VSMMC said in the country, Central Visayas ranks fourth in the HIV AIDS registry, owning 8% of the total number of cases in the country. 

On top is the National Capital Region with 32% of cases of the newly confirmed HIV AIDS seropositive individuals, followed by Region 4A at 18% of cases and Region 3 at 9% of cases. 

He added that in 2019 the Department of Health has said that on a daily average, about 32 to 38 people are positively diagnosed and reported as new cases. 

In Central Visayas, topping the list of HIV AIDS positive belong to0 the 18-34 age bracket, which comes as a concern as these are in the region’s working force. 

Over these revelations, the doctors during the press interaction remind people about the ABCs in HIV AIDS prevention. 

A, they said is abstinence. This means staying away from sexual activity and drug use, if one is not familiar with the partner’s sexual history. It would also be great if one chooses relationships carefully, and for one to know how to refuse to give in to peer pressure. 

B, is for the call to Be mutually faithful. It is entirely different if only one of the partners is faithful, quips in Dr. Causing. 

C is for the correct and consistent use of condoms. By correct, it means using latex condoms, every time one has sex, checking the package for expiration dates, tears and defects, and as an added protection, a water-based lubricant can help prevent latex tears and breakages in the sexual organs that can be entry points for the virus. 

D, they said is for avoiding drugs and drinking. Drugs and drinking can lead to clouded judgment and this can lead to unprotected sex, faulty use of needles and other unsanitary practices that can lead to problems in the future.

E, as for Education and Early Testing is what the DOH is now focusing as health professionals claim that early detection can be providential as this starts the anti-retroviral treatment that keeps the virus from replicating itself and helps the person living with HIV from further contaminating other people. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol) 

HIGH INCIDENCE OF NUBAIN USE. VSMMC HACT Dr. Chamberlain Agtuca said the high incidence of Nubain use in Central Visayas has caught the attention of Australian doctors who came in to study the practice among drug users. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)