Cervical cancer is estimated to cause 341,831 deaths each year, with 9 of 10 deaths occurring in developing countries. Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in cervical cancer incidence among women in the Philippines. Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is the well-established necessary cause of cervical cancer. Based on limited studies conducted in the Philippines, the prevalence of infection with any HPV genotype was 93.8% for cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 90.9% for cervical adenocarcinomas. HPV types 16 and 18 were the most common HPV genotypes among Filipino patients with cervical cancer. On the other hand, the incidence of HPV infection among Filipino women with normal cervices was 9.2%. The World Health Organization has launched a global agenda of eliminating HPV infection by 2030. One of its key milestones is to vaccinate 90% of girls with the HPV vaccine by 15 years. However, the HPV vaccination rate among Filipino women remains to be unsatisfactory. HPV vaccination has only been included in the Philippine Department of Health's community-based National Immunization Program in 2015. Despite these efforts, the Philippines currently ranks last on HPV program coverage among low-middle income countries, with coverage of only 23% of the target female population for the first dose and 5% for the final dose. The principal reason for the non-acceptance of HPV vaccines was the perceived high cost of vaccination. The low utilization of available cervical cancer screening tests such as Pap smear and visual inspection with acetic acid hampered the Philippines' control and prevention of HPV infection and cervical cancer. Among those diagnosed with cervical cancer in the Philippines, only an estimated 50% to 60% receive some form of treatment. To this end, we summarize the burden of HPV infection and cervical cancer on Filipinos and the risk factors associated with the disease. We present the current screening, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention of HPV-related diseases in the Philippines. Lastly, we also propose solutions on how each building block in health systems can be improved to eliminate HPV infection and reduce the burden of cervical cancer in the Philippines.

Within the past few decades, improvement in sanitation and economic growth has driven a changing epidemiology of hepatitis A in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this review, we gathered available published information on hepatitis A epidemiology of the countries in the WPR and reviewed the trends reported in the literature from the years 2000 to 2021. Many countries have shifted from high endemicity to low endemicity. Moreover, the administration of the hepatitis A vaccine among children in recent years has shifted disease susceptibility to the older population. Seroprevalence among children has decreased in most countries, while nearly 100% seropositivity is seen in mid adulthood. This is contrary to the epidemiology seen in previous decades when most children achieved immunity by age ten. This also presents a paradox in that better living conditions have caused more vulnerability to the older age groups who are at higher risk for severe disease. Given these trends, we recommend vaccination of vulnerable populations such as the older age groups and inclusion of the hepatitis A vaccine in government immunization programs.

Human adenovirus (HAdV), particularly the HAdV type 5 (HAdV-5), has been extensively utilized in the development of vector vaccines due to its high immunogenicity, good safety profile, and ease of propagation. However, one of the main challenges in its use is the presence of pre-existing immunity among vaccine recipients. Pre-existing neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) can prevent the uptake of HAdV-5 vectors and reduce vaccine efficacy. Hence, this study investigated the seroprevalence of NAbs against HAdV-5 in urban and rural regions of the Philippines. Luciferase-based neutralization assay was performed on 391 plasma/serum samples. Out of these samples, 346 or 88.5% were positive for HAdV-5 NAbs, and the majority of them (56.8%) had high titers against the virus. Among the regions included in this study, Bicol (Region V) had the highest seroprevalence rate (94.1%). Our findings show that a significant number of adults in the Philippines have pre-existing immunity against HAdV-5. This supports the recommendation that vaccination programs in the country should consider implementing vaccination techniques, such as a prime-boost regimen or addition of booster doses, to address the potential negative effects of pre-existing HAdV-5 immunity in the efficacy of adenoviral vector-based vaccines.

Background: Evaluation of cognitive health is an important aspect of clinical care for individuals with neurologic and/or psychiatric conditions. To our knowledge, prior studies have not established normative data for cognitive health among adults residing in the Philippines. Objective: This study aimed to adapt a multidomain cognitive testing protocol optimized for cultural relevance and establish empirically derived normative data adjusted for demographic factors using regression-based methods. Methods: We recruited healthy Filipino adults ages 18–65 years. Study participants underwent a multidomain cognitive testing protocol examining seven neurocognitive domains. We generated normative scoring systems using regression-based methods using age, sex assigned at birth, level of education, and body mass index as predictors. We defined statistical significance as p <0.05. Results: Two hundred ninety-six sex-matched participants with a mean age of 40.7 years (SD 12.7) and 10.81 years of education (SD 4.3) completed the multidomain cognitive testing protocol. In all domains, lower age, higher level of education, and female sex were associated with better test performance. For grip strength, male sex and higher body mass index were significantly associated with better performance. Conclusion: This study provides support for a multidomain cognitive test protocol designed for diverse populations. Furthermore, we established normative data for the clinical interpretation of neurocognitive performance in the Filipino population.

HPV infection is one of the most studied risk factors in cervical cancer—the second most common cancer site and cause of death due to cancer in the Philippines. However, there is a lack of population-based epidemiological data on cervical HPV infection in the Philippines. Local reports on co-infections with other lower genital tract pathogens, commonly reported globally, are also lacking, which emphasizes the need to increase efforts in targeting HPV prevalence, genotype, and distribution. Hence, we aim to determine the molecular epidemiology and natural history of HPV infection among reproductive-age Filipino women using a community-based prospective cohort design. Women from rural and urban centers will be screened until the target sample size of 110 HPV-positive women (55 from rural sites and 55 from urban sites) is reached. Cervical and vaginal swabs will be collected from all screened participants. For HPV-positive patients, HPV genotypes will be determined. One hundred ten healthy controls will be selected from previously screened volunteers. The cases and controls will comprise the multi-omics subset of participants and will be followed up after 6 and 12 months for repeat HPV screening. Metagenomic and metabolomic analyses of the vaginal swabs will also be performed at baseline, after 6 months, and after 12 months. The results of this study will update the prevalence and genotypic distribution of cervical HPV infection among Filipino women, determine whether the current vaccines used for HPV vaccination programs capture the most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes in the country, and identify vaginal community state types and bacterial taxa associated with the natural history of cervical HPV infection. The results of this study will be used as the basis for developing a biomarker that can help predict the risk of developing persistent cervical HPV infection in Filipino women.

Emergence of drug resistance demands new therapeutic strategies against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Currently, there is an increasing research focus on targeting gene expression- the crucial step wherein new viruses and new viral strains are amplified. Moreover, natural products are also being considered as potential candidates for new antivirals. We screened the extract obtained from a Philippine medicinal plant, Mentha cordifolia (Mc). In this study, we demonstrated that Mc ammonium sulfate extract has antiretroviral activity against HIV. HIV-1 latently infected cells (OM10.1) were pre-treated with Mc extract and activated with TNFα. In treated cells, viral replication was inhibited in both cell culture supernatant and whole cell lysates. The level of viral production, as measured by the viral p24 protein concentration, was very much inhibited under noncytotoxic concentrations to the similar level without addition of TNFα. Luciferase assays, however, showed that Mc does not inhibit the HIV-1 LTR driven gene expression. IκBα degradation and p65 nuclear translocation was also not affected as visualized through Western blot and immunofluorescence. These observations demonstrated that Mc possessed an antiviral component against HIV-1 and warrant further work to explore its target of action at a later step of gene expression. Our study introduces a potential source of a lead compound that targets steps in the HIV life cycle.