There are 646 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reported in February, the highest number of new cases reported since 1984, according to the Department of Health.

“This is a 33-percent increase from figures seen in the same period last year,” the DOH said.

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The latest data from the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry brings to 20 the new cases diagnosed every day, three cases up from 17 cases reported daily in 2014.

Out of 646 cases, 43 were already full-blown AIDS, while majority of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting.

There were 17 reported deaths for the month of February, 15 of them were male and 65 percent belonging to the age group 25 to 34 years old.

HIV leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which the body’s immune system is attacked and damaged by the virus, ultimately leading to death.

The number of new cases brings to 19,285 the total reported HIV cases from January 2010 to February 2015, and to 23,709 cases from January 1984 to February 2015.

DOH records showed that most of the cases or about 96 percent of the sexually transmitted cases were among men, most of whom either had unprotected sex with men or shared needles with drug users.

Two cases were reported to have acquired HIV through mother-to-child transmission.

The highest number of reported cases for February 2015 were from the National Capital Region (262 cases), Central Visayas (96 cases), Calabarzon (95) and Central Luzon (48).

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