Koronadal City—Health officials at the Integrated Provincial Health Office of South Cotabato warned the public of the increasing number of dengue, typhoid fever, and measles.
Dr. Rogelio Aturdido, Provincial Health Officer, said the advisory is based on the disease surveillance report. These diseases have reached threshold warning.
“Cases of Typhoid fever is moving up abruptly,” Dr. Aturdido said.
There were 278 cases of typhoid fever admitted in hospitals as of March 2, according to the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (PESU). Cases were 189.6% higher compared to the same period last year. Babies and senior citizens were most of the patients. Areas with highest reported cases were from Polomolok and T’boli.
Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella bacteria that are deposited in water and food. It is an acute illness which can cause death.
On the other hand, there were 806 cases of Dengue reported in South Cotabato, 162.5% higher compared to cases of the same period last year. The area with the highest reported cases is from Koronadal (19.9%).
Meanwhile, PESU revealed there were 98 suspected measles cases as of March 4. Cases are high in the towns of Polomolok, Banga and in the City of Koronadal. Seventy percent of the patients were not vaccinated with any measles-containing vaccine.
“We need to clean our environment and be sure that we eat nutritious food to help us fight these diseases. To be safe eat well-prepared food and drink safe water,” Aturdido added.
