Diarrhea, gastroenteritis hit Cebu, Caraga areas after ‘Odette’

DAYS after the devastation caused by Typhoon Odette, the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, December 27, 2021, reported a surge in cases of gastroenteritis and diarrhea among residents of Cebu, as well as in the islands of Siargao and Dinagat.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a total of 80 acute gastroenteritis patients were confined in the Dinagat District Hospital, while 54 diarrhea patients were admitted to the Siargao District Hospital

The health official also said there are 16 diarrhea cases reported in Cebu, with their current hospital statuses still being verified.

Vergeire said the cases may have stemmed from the water interruptions experienced after the onslaught of “Odette.”

“They have existing water sources. But their pipes were damaged, thus, the possibility of contamination is there,” Vergeire said.

“There is a need to determine the source so that we can provide the proper medications,” she added.

She said the DOH has already deployed epidemiological teams to assess the situation and probe the possible sources of the outbreak.

“We have deployed epidemiological teams in those areas so that we may be able to determine the source of infections,” Vergeire said.

Last week, Typhoon Odette devastated over 6,000 barangays in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

This forced some 303,000 individuals to flee to evacuation centers.

Damaged hospitals

Vergeire said not only individuals were affected by the typhoon, as nearly 150 health facilities have been damaged.

“As of December 27, we have reported 141 damaged health care facilities,” she said.

“There are 30 of these that are fully functional, while the status of the rest are still to be determined,” Vergeire added.

She said this has forced the government to tap into their network of health facilities.

“We are utilizing our networks right now so that all patients needing access to services for health will be entertained, accommodated, and managed accordingly,” Vergeire said.

Vaccine wastage

The DOH also reported that the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines wasted due to the typhoon has gone up to 4,000.

“We have a total of 4,120 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and from Central Visayas that were wasted,” Vergeire said.

“For now, we have 4,120 doses that were wasted because of these power outages,” she added.

Vergeire said the numbers may still go up depending on the assessment of vaccine experts.

“There were also some vaccines that were returned or have been transferred so that we can be able to assess these vaccines if they are still potent, and can still be used or not,” Vergeire said. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)