Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 18)—Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Thursday declared the end of the city’s acute gastroenteritis outbreak that victimized more than 3,000 people.
“We are now officially out of the woods. We are now shifting to the endemic phase where diarrhea cases are back to normal rate,” Magalong said during a press briefing.
“I can confidently say na lahat ng klaseng tests na ginawa natin doon sa [all of the tests we did in] water supply district, it is totally, and I would say, completely, absolutely safe,” he added. In short, you can now drink directly from the faucet.”
In an advisory posted by the Baguio City Public Information Office on social media, it said the mayor’s declaration was based on the results of the epidemiologic investigation.
Magalong said the public may drink from the tap “as long as it doesn’t go or pass through an intermediate storage” such as tanks without filters.
“Ibig sabihin from the infiltration system diretso sa distribution line hanggang sa faucet, puwede niyong inumin po yan basta Baguio water district,” he said. “Kaya lang kapag yan po ay may tangkeng dinadaanan yan ho kailangan talaga ng infiltration yan.”
[Translation: This means that (they should only drink from sources with) the infiltration system directed to a distribution line to the faucet, you can drink that as long as it came from Baguio water district. However, if the water comes from tanks, that will need infiltration first.]
“Really, we had an outbreak of diarrhea, or acute gastroenteritis in the city of Baguio from Dec. 20 to Jan. 13, but the cases under the case-control study were the cases from Dec. 26 to Jan. 13, resulting from a water-borne source which is water sources that have been contaminated,” city health officer Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes said in the same briefing.
READ:
DOH: Gastroenteritis outbreak in Baguio now ‘contained’
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2024/1/15/Gastroenteritis-outbreak-contained-january.html
More samples from various water sources found contaminated — Baguio LGU
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2024/1/12/Baguio-water-sources-found-contaminated.html
Brillantes said the city had “two incubation periods of cases significantly going down” and there are no cluster cases.
Magalong said tests showed 12 samples were coliform positive, including seven that were Escherichia coli (e-coli) positive.
He said the local government is making sure water is safe by conducting chlorination and other disinfection.
On CNN Philippines’ Newsroom Ngayon, gastroenterologist Ron Michael Tan said patients with gastroenteritis may acquire bacteria or viruses such as salmonella, e-coli, and rotaviruses.
E-coli is a sub-group of fecal coliform which is a bacterium that can cause infections in some parts of a person’s body.
READ: EXPLAINER: What is gastroenteritis and how to treat it?
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2024/1/11/what-is–gastroenteritis–exlplainer.html
