Cholera cases up 230% from Jan. 1-Aug. 6

Vergeire noted that the number of typhoid fever cases in the recent three to four weeks is 12 percent lower than the same period last year. (File Photo: Department of Health (Philippines)/Facebook)

MANILA – The country has logged 2,650 cholera cases from January 1 to August 6, 230 percent higher than the figure in the same period in 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

“Pero kapag tiningnan natin itong recent three to four weeks, 18 percent lower na siya nung nakaraang taon na ganitong time (But if we look at the recent three to four weeks, it is 18 percent lower than last year around this period),” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum.

There are 141 reported cases of cholera for these past three to four weeks, she added.

For typhoid fever, there were 7,681 cases recorded from January 1 to August 6, 109 percent higher compared to those reported in the same period last year.

Vergeire noted that the number of typhoid fever cases in the recent three to four weeks is 12 percent lower than the same period last year.

“So, kapag tiningnan natin ang mga kaso na ito during the start of the rainy season, nagpi-peak sila, tapos eventually, pababa na rin sila nang pababa (So, if we look at these cases, they peak at the start of the rainy season, then they eventually decrease),” Vergeire said.

Apart from the rainy season, Vergeire said another factor contributing to the increase in cases is the disruption of water services.

“So, they look for option na para makakuha sila ng tubig and sometimes madumi ‘yung tubig kaya nagkakaroon ng mga ganitong insidente (to get water and sometimes they get dirty water so incidents like these happen),” she added.