It happened August last year. Despite his difficulty in breathing, he had to go out of the house alone to go to the local medical clinic. After numerous tests, he received a diagnosis of pneumonia with prescriptions that would last him a week. He took them secretly and religiously but had chills and nights filled with pain and silent grimace.

On the seventh day, the medicines were not working and his family rushed him to the Lung Center of the Philippines.

He doesn’t like the feeling and idea of being in the hospital but he knew he needed it. After a new set of tests, the doctor advised immediate confinement. However, the hospital had no vacant room so he transferred to Capitol Medical Center. He was already crying when his parents were signing the confinement papers.

He kept imagining the hospital room would be the last thing he’ll see before he dies. He knew something was already wrong but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. He had to undergo more laboratory tests. For three days, he had uncontrollable chills and had to be placed under a certain light bulb to be warm. He was like an egg — except that instead of being born, he felt like he was dying.

On his fourth day in the hospital, the doctor told him he had pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). He took new medicines but they were still not working. The doctor asked his loved ones that the family had to talk privately.

After that conversation, he had to undergo one last procedure: a blood test. During the seventh day, he heard the whisper of death. The kind of pneumonia that he has is associated with a certain condition.

This person who is a big part of my life, a friend I’ve known for years, had a diagnosis of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS.

A Silent Epidemic

AIDS is a condition where the immune system becomes weak to a point that it can no longer fight common infections that it normally can. HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a retrovirus that causes AIDS. Its presence in the body lowers the ability of a person to fight off diseases. It attacks and weakens the immune system.

According to Dr. Jonathan Fontilla, a consultant who works with the Department of Health and World Health Organization, there are two possible conditions before a person living with HIV receives a diagnosis of AIDS.

1. CD4 cell count of 200 and below. These are white blood cells that define and measure the immunity of a person
2. Presence of an opportunistic infection. These take advantage of the weakened system and infect the person. It can come in the form of certain cancers.

Transmission of HIV can happen through unprotected sexual intercourse (vaginal or anal) and oral sex with an infected person. It may also occur through transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing of syringes and needles with a person living with HIV (PLHIV) — especially for drug injections, tattoos or other skin-piercing tools. It may also be transmitted through pregnancy or breastfeeding (infected mother to child).

Transfer of the virus can occur in these body fluids: blood, semen, vaginal/cervical fluids and breast milk. However, no one can acquire the virus through kissing, casual contacts or handshakes, living, drinking or eating with an infected person, mosquitoes and bed bugs.

How quickly does a person infected with HIV develop AIDS? The length of time can vary widely between individuals. Left untreated, the majority of people infected with HIV will develop signs of HIV-related illness within 5-10 years. However, the time between an HIV infection and an AIDS diagnosis can be 10–15 years, sometimes longer.

Worse Days to Come

As he knew the truth, my friend felt engulfed in furious waves that won’t stop coming.

The diagnosis made him experience a full spectrum of emotions: anxiety, denial, fear, guilt, hopelessness, concerns about finances, accuracy of tests, and the reaction of family and loved ones. For days, he was stuck in bed. He can’t breathe with his lungs. He never ate his meals. He was afraid. He still wants to chase his dreams. But he felt as though the world stopped all of a sudden.

He stayed in the hospital for twelve days. But he lost count; it felt like eternity. We would go out of our way to visit him in the hospital. These were the few times we could still see him smile. But even when he was finally sent home to his family, he didn’t feel better at all.

Aside from pneumonia, he had tuberculosis and retinitis. Like knives poking his already fragile body, other diseases emerged out of nowhere. These were complications of AIDS. In figures, the doctor told him a normal person’s immune system is 500. His was -5. He wanted to give up on life. Sadly, he wasn’t the only one going through all of these.

On the Rise

Cases of HIV continue to rise in the Philippines. According to Dr. Eric Tayag, chief of the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health, there are 16 new cases of HIV everyday.

For the month of June 2014 alone, there were 494 new HIV cases. Last year, there were only 431 reported cases for the same time period. Out of the 494 cases, 42 people developed AIDS.

From January to June 2014, we now have 2,814 reported HIV cases.

The Philippine government only started an HIV/AIDS Registry to record statistics in 1984. From that time up to now, here are the total numbers:

• 19,330 HIV cases
• 9% developed AIDS (1,766 cases)
• 90% were male (17,367 cases)
• 93% of cases acquired the virus through sexual contact (17,975 cases)
• 46% of sexual transmission via homosexual contact (8,285 cases)
• 25% via heterosexual contact (4,460 cases)
• 29% via bisexual contact (347)

Lack of Treatment Hubs

There is no cure and vaccine for HIV. Anti-retrovirals (ARVs) may only slow down the replication of the virus. These drugs fight HIV by stopping or interfering with its reproduction inside the body.