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The Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office (PHO) is reporting a significant increase in typhoid fever this year.
Since the beginning of the year through August 20, the province has seen 279 cases with three deaths.
This is up from the same period in 2021 when 142 cases and zero deaths were reported, or a 96 percent increase.
According to Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, “The typhoid bacteria can be passed on to others via the oral-fecal route and with the advent of the rainy season and flooding, we are seeing an increase in cases most likely due to contaminated water and food.”
Guihulngan City logged the highest number of typhoid cases at 75; followed by Bayawan City, 29; and Ayungon and Dumaguete City with 22 each.
Nationally, the Philippines 7,681 total typhoid cases through August 6, a 109% increase from the 3,676 cases reported during the same period last year.
Typhoid fever, caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, is a life-threatening bacterial infection. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 21 million people annually.
Salmonella typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed S.typhi in their feces.
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You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. typhi or if sewage contaminated with S. typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.
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