DOH: Cholera in Bicol reaches epidemic level

LEGAZPI CITY—An alert status was raised in Bicol following a sharp rise in the incidence of cases and in the number of deaths due to cholera from January to July this year compared with the same period last year, which health authorities said have reached “epidemic levels.”

Dr. Nestor Santiago, director of the Department of Health (DOH) in Bicol, said in an e-mailed report on Friday that data gathered by the DOH Epidemiology Surveillance Unit from various government and private hospitals in the region showed 30 deaths and 3,158 persons sick of cholera from January to July this year.

He said the number represented a 610-percent increase compared with the same period last year when there were only 445 cases recorded in the six provinces and four deaths in Albay and one in Sorsogon.

“Alarmed by the surging incidence of cholera cases, health  authorities declared an epidemic,”  Santiago said. He said cholera is due to bacteria caused by eating dirty food and drinking contaminated water.

Records showed Catanduanes has the highest incidence with 1,831 cases and 14 deaths; Camarines Sur, 811 cases, 7 deaths; Sorsogon, 291 cases, 5 deaths; Albay, 168 cases, 4 deaths; Camarines Norte, 54 cases, and Masbate, 3 cases.

Santiago said that except for Camarines Norte, which posted a 36-percent decrease from 84 cases last year to 54 this year, all the other five provinces showed an increasing trend.

On July 2, Santiago issued an advisory to provincial, city and town executives to take health interventions to avert worsening of the cases.

Santiago said the DOH urged local government units (LGUs) in affected areas to step up their campaign on food and environmental sanitation by requiring food handlers and vendors to undergo rectal swabbing before they could be issued health certificates.

The DOH also asked the LGUs to have available chlorine stock solutions to ensure safe drinking water in the communities.

Santiago reminded local chief executives to activate their respective water quality monitoring committees that would regularly check water sources in their communities and hold preventive and control measures to avert spread of cholera.