Negros diarrhea cases traced to 3 filthy water sources

MANILA, Philippines — Contaminated water sources were behind the rise in diarrhea cases that have killed at least 10 people in the central Philippines from June 19 to July 12, a report said on Saturday. Online news site Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com) reported that health officials found three water reservoirs in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, contaminated with harmful organisms. These organisms include the Vibrio spp bacteria that causes cholera, according to a Department of Health (DOH) report quoted by the news site. Dr. Socrates Villamor of the DOH in Negros Oriental said tests results showed that three water sources in Guihulngan were found with fecal organisms. Villamor identified these as the reservoirs in Magsaysay, Bebe and Poblacion. Rectal swab samples also showed that six out of 10 were positive of the Vibrio spp. bacteria, Villamor added. From June 19 to July 12, the DOH documented 10 deaths and 120 admission cases at the Guihulngan district hospital due to acute diarrhea, he said. The patients were aged between 5 months and 69 years, with 51 percent of the total number being females, the RESU-7 report said. Common signs and symptoms of the patients were diarrhea, vomiting, mucoid stool and abdominal cramps. The cases were distributed in several villages in Guihulngan, with eight villages having the most number, namely, T-Hill, T-Beach, P. Zamora, Magsaysay, McKinley, Poblacion, Bateria and Culasi. Patients were found to have been using water from undeveloped water sources such as shallow springs and dug wells, Villamor said. He said the contaminated water sources could have been most likely aggravated by heavy rains and flooding at the height of Typhoon Frank. The DOH recommended to the local waterworks management of Guihulngan the immediate rehabilitation of its water distribution systems, immediate installation of chlorinator in every water source, regular periodic inspection of residual chlorine level, and periodic screening for the presence of coliforms from the water source to the household taps. The DOH asked the local government of Guihulngan to intensify information and health education activities on the treatment, prevention and control of diarrheal diseases and personal hygiene in the community. It also advised the public to boil or chlorinate their drinking water especially in areas using undeveloped water sources. - GMANews.TV