SOUTHERN Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) Chief Dr. Ricardo Audan confirmed that seven out of 11 HIV-positive individuals have also tested positive for Monkeypox (Mpox) in the Davao Region. He announced the Habi at Kape Media Forum on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Most of the cases, he said, involve male patients.
The remaining four HIV-positive individuals tested negative for Mpox.
Audan suggested that the overlap in infections may be linked to high-risk behaviors, although the exact mode of transmission remains unclear.
“Hindi natin masasabi kung ano yung transmission talaga, but possibly because of their activities (I cannot really say what the exact transmission is, but possibly due to their activities)," he explained, emphasizing that Mpox typically spreads through close physical contact, including touching, kissing, sexual activity, or face-to-face interactions involving respiratory droplets.
When asked about current Mpox cases in the region, Audan confirmed 14
recorded cases, of which seven tested positive, all of whom are also living with HIV. Among these seven, four are currently in isolation at SPMC, one patient has died, one has recovered, and one tested positive again due to close contact exposure.
None of the patients had any travel history, Audan noted.
“Wala talagang travel history but because there are HIV patients na you may mga sexual activity na hindi natin alam but I do not want to [offend] but yung sexual activity… sino-sino ang na-meet nila (There’s really no travel history. But since these are HIV patients, they may have engaged in sexual activities that we are not aware of. I don’t want to offend anyone, but we don’t know who they’ve been with),” he said.
Close contact monitoring
Dr. Sofia Corazon Zafra, City Health Office's (CHO's) Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Program manager said that between January 1 and June 2, 49 close contacts were identified. Of those, 35 completed the 21-day monitoring period without developing symptoms.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), individuals with multiple sexual partners are at higher risk of contracting Mpox. Transmission can occur until all sores have fully healed and new skin has formed. In some cases, people may carry and spread the virus without symptoms, but the frequency of such asymptomatic transmission remains unclear.
Certain groups—such as children, pregnant individuals, and those with weakened immune systems, including people living with uncontrolled HIV—face a higher risk of severe illness or death from Mpox-related complications.
Meanwhile, the number of young Filipinos diagnosed with HIV has surged by 500 percent, prompting the Department of Health (DOH) to call for it to be declared a national public health emergency.
DOH: HIV more pressing concern than Mpox
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa recently warned that HIV now poses a more urgent health threat than Mpox, especially among the youth.
“We’ve seen a 500 percent rise in HIV cases among individuals aged 15 to 25. The youngest recorded case was a 12-year-old child from Palawan,” Herbosa said in a statement, calling for HIV to be declared a national public health emergency.
In Davao City, the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center (RHWC) reported 117 HIV cases as of May 2025—nearly matching the previous year’s total.
However, RHWC nurse Karla Mae Sepulveda-Edjic clarified that only 55 of those cases were officially reported by the Department of Health (DOH) from treatment hubs in the city. RHWC’s numbers include individuals from outside Davao who accessed services locally. DEF