TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan- The Department of Health (DOH) here confirmed that a one-year old child is the youngest person living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the Cagayan Valley region.
Dr. Guia Cumillas of DOH said based on their record, the child is the latest victim diagnosed with HIV infection in the region.
“The virus was transmitted to the victim from her infected mother during pregnancy,” Cumillas said.
Meanwhile, Cumillas said of the 89 recorded HIV/AIDS cases in the region, 85 are male who mostly contracted the virus through sexual intercourse with men and heterosexuals.
She said of all the recorded cases, 6 are full-blown in which their immune system can no longer fight a number of viral, fungal, bacterial and parasitic infections while 83 are asymptomatic in which the immune system of someone with HIV slowly deteriorates, but the person has no symptoms.
Cumillas said Isabela province has the highest recorded cases at 42, followed by Cagayan-31, Nueva Vizcaya-14 and Quirino-4. Batanes has zero case. PIA
