DOH: Cholera still ‘year-round’ disease in PH

The Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. (Photo courtesy of JBLMGH)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Cholera has remained a “year-round disease” in the Philippines, Department of Health Officer-in-Charge and Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in this city on Thursday, March 23.

Vergeire was here to grace the opening of the catheterization laboratory of the Department of Health at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital here for residents in the Central Luzon region’s seven provinces.

She confirmed a World Health Organization(WHO) report released on March 22 that 11 million families in the country are “without access to safe water.”

According to her, the WHO report pointed to a “crisis in water” and urged for the observance of World Water Day to increase awareness on safe water.

In the Philippines, Vergeire said the main source of cholera are contaminated water and poor sanitation.

Cholera, an infection of the small intestine, is said to be caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infected person suffers from diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps and severe dehydration.

“There should be no open defecation,” she said, referring to those without toilets. INQ

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