BACOLOD City – The City Health Office (CHO) recorded three additional deaths due to acute gastroenteritis (AGE) while cases of cholera climbed to 15.
From seven deaths as of Oct. 26, the number of AGE deaths reached 10 following the three new deaths recorded as of Saturday, Nov. 5.
Dr. Grace Tan, chief of the CHO Environment Sanitation Division, said the city has a total of 239 AGE cases, of which 10 died.
Meanwhile, as of Nov. 5 CHO documented a total of 15 confirmed cases of cholera.
Here is the breakdown of the cases:
* Alijis and Banago – three cases each;
* Sum-ag, Handumanan and Granada – two each;
* 40, Mansilingan and Tangub – one each.
Moreover, the barangays with more than 10 AGE cases as of Nov. 5 were Mansilingan, Vista Alegre, Villamonte, Singcang-Airport, Taculing, Tangub, Banago, Alijis, Cabug, Estefania, and Sum-ag.
Tan said the average number of AGE cases per week in September was 28 and 25 in October, adding that it might increase should reports from disease reporting units come in.
“Four confirmed cholera cases were captured through stool culture in September while 11 were documented in October. Three to 12 percent of acute gastroenteritis turned out to be cholera,” she added.
Based on the observations of the CHO, the persons infected by the food and water-borne disease were mostly at the age range of 11 months to 80 years old.
Tan said the risk factors noted why they were infected were the following:
* personal hygiene;
* environmental sanitation: garbage management, human waste disposal;
* inadequate supply of water for domestic use (either PrimeWater/Bacolod City Water District or deep well);
* collecting water in a container which frequently gets contaminated even with the use of laddle/tabu.
“All sources of drinking are from water refilling stations, but 80 percent are resold in an outlet, with contents being transferred to personal container/s without appropriate cleaning. Water containers are already worn out with tapes, and stacked under the heat and dirt,” the CHO official said.
The CHO also continues its inspection of all water refilling stations in the city./PN
