Metro Manila, January 11 ------ Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong officially declared an outbreak of gastroenteritis in his locality after cases surged to over 1,600. “I would like to declare — officially declare — that we have an outbreak of gastroenteritis,” Magalong said in a press briefing.
Local officials believe the outbreak can be attributed to contaminated water. The local government said its City Health Service Office received a total of 1,602 incident reports as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, with 218 affected establishments and 80 affected households. This tally is much higher than the 350 cases of acute gastroenteritis reported by local health officials on Tuesday, and which they said had been documented since Dec. 21.
Magalong said the city government has created a “self-reporting” system for affected residents, and is no longer relying on data provided by hospitals and other health facilities. Local officials, as well as Baguio Water District personnel, are now probing the cause of the outbreak.
City Health Services officer Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes earlier said authorities began water sampling and testing to get to the root of the problem. According to Magalong, the Baguio Water District has started testing over 60 sources of water, although he noted it would take a few days to get the results. “Food establishments had been advised to refrain from serving tap and filtered water and serve only purified water to their customers while households were told to use purified water or boiled tap water and to bring their own water when eating out,” the city’s public information office said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, acute gastroenteritis is loose or watery diarrhea that consists of three or more bowel movements in a day. It occurs when food or water that is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins are consumed. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, fever, or abdominal pain.
Brillantes advised those experiencing symptoms to go to the nearest health facility so they can be given proper medication. She stressed this is important to avoid further dehydration and complications.
Source: cnnphilippines.com
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