Baguio’s gastro cases easing, says mayor

QUALITY CHECK A teamfrom the Baguio City Health Services Office, the Department of Health and the Baguio Water District draws samples from the Santo Tomas rain basin, the city’s only
rainwater reservoir, to test the quality of its water amid a spike of gastroenteritis and diarrhea cases in Baguio. —NEIL CLARK ONGCHANGCO

BAGUIO CITY — The number of cases of acute gastroenteritis (stomach flu), including diarrhea and suspected food poisoning, had already gone down in this city, prompting the local government to focus on tracing the source of the outbreak, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Friday.

Epidemiological data showed a downward trend in diarrhea cases, with only 43 patients being treated as of Thursday, fewer than the 130 people who suffered stomach flu a day earlier, Magalong said at a city tourism development planning congress here.

READ: Gastro cases breach 2,000 in Baguio

Stomach flu cases first rose on Dec. 29 last year, with 36 people seeking treatment, he said.

The highest number of cases was recorded on Jan. 7 when 496 people consulted doctors, hospitals and barangay health centers, prompting Magalong to declare an outbreak on Wednesday.

As of Friday, laboratory results found 18 of 62 water samples collected by the city to be positive for coliform, and 12 of these samples were from water delivery services. Four other samples containing coliform were secured from four food establishments, one from a household water dispenser and the last sample from a school.

Cases of gastroenteritis and diarrhea in the city began to spike in the middle of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Additional manpower

According to the mayor, he asked Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag for additional manpower to help track down possible sources of contaminated water.

A team composed of doctors and nurses, sanitation engineers, barangay health workers and policemen had been gathering samples and information in the city’s 128 barangays.

On Friday morning, personnel from the City Health Services Office (CHSO) proceeded to Baguio’s only rainwater reservoir to test the quality of its supply.

Led by Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes, city health officer, a team gathered water samples from the Santo Tomas rain basin which supplies a section of Baguio’s population (366,358 as of the 2020 census).

They were accompanied by a crew from the Baguio Water District which conducted their own tests. The samples would be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila for testing.

According to the CHSO, the latest tally of people who “self-reported” their conditions through a Baguio online portal has risen to 2,764, but only 609 patients have consulted doctors.

The CHSO said 2,564 people had complained about diarrhea attacks, while 1,477 experienced vomiting, but most of them have recovered.

Others complained about nausea, abdominal cramps, fever, loss of appetite and joint pains in the course of their illnesses.

Babies and toddlers (1-4 years old) and children between 5 and 9 years old were among those treated for diarrhea.

Some residents who spoke to the Inquirer said they had not gone to the hospital but chose to take over-the-counter medicine and other home remedies.

“We were good after three days,” said a teacher.

The latest CHSO report said 294 of those who suffered from acute gastroenteritis live outside Baguio.

The number excluded the 204 people who live in the city’s neighboring Benguet towns of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay.