By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The Filipino man acquired HIV and AIDS through bisexual contact |
A Filipino man was among 105 new HIV and 17 new AIDS (acquired immunity
deficiency syndrome) cases in Hong Kong for the third quarter this year, the Centre
for Health Protection said Friday, Dec 3.
Responding to a query from The SUN, a CHP spokesman said the Filipino patient acquired AIDS through bisexual contact.
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Sexual contact remained the major route of HIV transmission among infected Filipinos, the spokesman said. He suggested using condoms consistently and properly to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The single new HIV/AIDS case among the estimated 200,000
Filipinos in
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This past quarter, an additional 105 cases of HIV infection were reported to the CHP, taking the cumulative total reported locally to 11,122 since 1984.
The CHP said that of the 105 HIV cases involving 85 males and 20 females
reported in the quarter, 49 acquired the infection via homosexual or bisexual
contact and 25 via heterosexual contact.
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The transmission routes of the remaining 31 cases have yet to be determined due to incomplete information when they were reported, the CHP said.
The new cases were mainly reported by three major sources: public hospitals,
clinics and laboratories, which listed 47 cases; the Department of Health’s Social
Hygiene Clinics, which handled 16 cases; and AIDS service organizations, which attended
to 15 cases.
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Also, 72 of the HIV-infected people have already received HIV specialist services from the DH or the Hospital Authority.
In the third quarter, 17 new AIDS cases were reported, of which 10 cases were
attributed to homosexual or bisexual contact and six were due to heterosexual
contact.
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The transmission route of the remaining case had yet to be determined. In the third quarter, the most common AIDS-defining illness was Pneumocystis pneumonia, a kind of fungal chest infection.
Since 1985, a cumulative total of 2,297 confirmed AIDS cases have been reported
in
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The spokesman said that although HIV could lead to full-blown AIDS, lifelong
treatment with antiretroviral drugs could prevent this happening.
He said HIV treatment also improves the quality of life and survival rate of HIV/AIDS patients, the extent of which depends on how early antiretroviral treatment is initiated.
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Notably, people with HIV who achieve sustained viral suppression to an undetectable level will no longer transmit the virus through sex.
He urged members of the public with a history of unsafe sex to take an HIV
antibody test early. They can call the DH’s AIDS Hotline, 2780 2211, to arrange
a free, anonymous and confidential HIV test. HIV-positive people should seek
specialist care as soon as possible, the spokesman said.
The public may visit the following pages for more information: the DH’s Virtual
AIDS Office (www.aids.gov.hk),
the Red Ribbon Centre (www.rrc.gov.hk),
the AIDS Hotline website (www.27802211.com)
and the Gay Men HIV Information website (www.21171069.gov.hk).
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