CEBU CITY, Philippines—Aside from heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat strokes, the public should also be on the lookout for food and waterborne diseases this summer season, an official of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) said.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-7 director, warned the public to be cautious of hepatitis and diarrhea that could result from eating contaminated food.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hepatitis A, or the inflammation of the liver that can cause mild to severe illness, is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food and water or through direct contact with an infectious person.
“Atong pahinumdom sa atong mga sidewalk vendor, tabuni sad tawn inyong mga baligya kung mahimo. Kay ato man nang gi discourage unta, apan tungod lagi sa mga livelihood sa atong mga kaigsoonan, kanunay gihapon mahitabo ang pagpamaligya bisan sa daplin sa dalan,” Bernadas said.
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(Our reminders to our sidewalk vendors, please cover the food you sell. We actually discourage that but because it is the livelihood of our brothers, they still sell even at the sidewalks.)
“So, kung mamaligya ka man gani sa daplin sa dalan, tabuni intawn ang inyong baligya kay delikado mataptan sa mga food and waterborne diseases.”
(So if you sell at the roadside, just please cover the food because it is prone to food and waterborne diseases.)
Latest data from the DOH-7 shows that diarrhea and dehydration are among the top health incidents reported in the region.
Dengue watch
As of May 2, the DOH-7 recorded a total of 707 incidents (any event with health implications to an individual or to the community) of diarrhea and 706 incidents of dehydration.
This is based on the daily submission of health incidents monitored from health facilities and local government units for Oplan Init sa Tag-init 2023 that commenced on April 1.
Bernadas also cautioned the public against dengue with the changes in the weather from very humid days to rainy days.
He said they noted an increase in the number of dengue cases in the past few weeks, although this is not yet a cause to declare dengue outbreak.
The DOH-7 recorded a total of 2,235 dengue cases in the region as of April 22.
Of the number, the DOH-7 logged nine deaths. Eight of these are from Cebu and one from Negros Oriental, with the region having a case fatality rate of 0.4 percent for dengue.
/bmjo
