DAGUPAN CITY – Fearing a repeat of the 2004 cholera epidemic in Pangasinan, health authorities in the province have been alerted to prevent the spread of the disease that has downed about 100 people in at least 10 towns and three cities since July.

A doctor based in this city, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release official statements, said information he received showed that at least 80 people had shown symptoms of cholera affliction in Bayambang town.

A report from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the Center for Health Development in the Ilocos region, however, showed that only 14 cases were reported in Bayambang, 12 of them in Barangay Tococ West.

Dr. George Calugay, team leader of the Department of Health in Pangasinan, declined to confirm the number of people afflicted with cholera.

Calugay said at least three cholera-related fatalities have been reported to the DOH but he did not know where the victims came from.

Test results from RITM and CHD-Ilocos showed that 38 victims were positive for Vibrio cholerae Ogawa while one was positive for Aeromonas caviae. Both are known cholera strains.

The DOH said cholera is transmitted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with human waste. It said people suffering from the disease experience a sudden onset of frequent painless watery stools, vomiting and rapid dehydration.

Bolinao has 10 cases while Agno, Anda, Calasiao, Sual, Sta. Barbara, Mangatarem and San Carlos City have a case each. Bani and Dagupan City reported three cases each while Alaminos City has two.

The report said the victims’ ages range from eight months to 70 years.

Calugay said if the cases are not contained, it is possible that the cholera outbreak in Pangasinan four years ago would be repeated.

That year, 8,819 people from Pangasinan were reported to have suffered from acute gastroenteritis, with 464 patients later confirmed to be suffering from cholera. Fifty-five died from the disease in the province.