MANILA, Philippines — The continued rise in the number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases is causing an additional burden to the prevalence of tuberculosis in the country, according to health experts. Since those living with HIV are 37 times more likely to develop tuberculosis, the likelihood of them transmitting the respiratory disease to another segment of the population also increases, Rontgene Solante, the former president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT“Most of these [cases] are also the ones that can transmit the infection,” Solante said. “People living with HIV and have tuberculosis but don’t know they have HIV are persons who can also rapidly develop AIDS because of tuberculosis,” he said. The DOH estimates that there are around a million Filipinos with active tuberculosis.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 24, 2019 10:30 UTC