The Philippines has logged a total of 1,006 cases of cholera from Jan. 1 to March 18, latest data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.
The figure was six percent lower compared to the 1,065 cases recorded in the same period last year.
Majority of the cases were reported in Eastern Visayas with 695. It was followed by Bicol Region with 106 cases, Western Visayas with 63, Zamboanga Peninsula with 58, and Davao Region with 55, the DOH said.
Based on the data, seven deaths due to cholera were registered.
The DOH defined cholera as "acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae."
Some of its signs and symptoms include sudden onset of frequent painless watery stools, vomiting, rapid dehydration (e.g., sunken eyeballs, wrinkled and dry skin), the DOH said.
Typhoid fever
Meanwhile, the DOH recorded 3,285 typhoid fever cases reported from Jan. 1 to March 18.
The total number was 101 percent higher compared to the 1,633 cases recorded during the same period last year.
Most of the cases were logged in Cordillera Administrative Region with 609 cases followed by Northern Mindanao with 423, Mimaropa with 327, and Central Visayas with 326.
No deaths due to typhoid fever were recorded, the DOH said.
Typhoid fever is caused by a bacteria known as Salmonella typhi, the DOH said.
“It spreads through contaminated food and water or through close contact with someone who is infected,” it said.
Its signs and symptoms include high and low-grade fever for several days, headache, weakness, loss of appetite, either diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal discomfort, the DOH said.