City health assures public no HIV risks floating in waters

By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief

Iligan City — The City Health Office yesterday assured the public that one cannot just easily acquire human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

City Health Officer Dr. Cherlina Canaveral response comes at the heels of text messages circulating in the city, and even in social media that there are “hospital wastes” floating in the waters which might have been eaten by some fishes and that these might pose risks to the people eating the fishes as there might have been syringes and bandages and other items used by these hospitals which might have come from persons who have the virus which causes the dreaded Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids).

Canaveral said the waters in their area of responsibility do not have such things and granting that there might have been, and some fishes might have ingested them, there is no risk on the part of the persons who have eaten these fishes.

The doctor explained that HIV could only be transferred through sexual intercourse, or through injections from syringes that have been used by a person infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Also, pregnant mothers with Aids may also transmit them to their babies, but not 100 percent, she added.

In other words, she said, this could be transmitted through “person to person.” This cannot even be transmitted by using the utensils used by persons who have Aids or those with the HIV.

To note, if a person has HIV, it takes time for it to become full-blown Aids.

She, therefore, enjoined persons who have active sex lives to avail of some protection like using condoms.

She said there are teams to make people aware of these things.

It was learned that the texts circulated around and even in social media said that around 24 persons were already ben affected in this city and around 300 in Cagayan de Oro.

This is not true, the doctor said.