"Martial Law" imposed to contain spread of acute gastro-enteritis

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — "Martial Law" did it in containing the spread of the deadly acute gastro-enteritis (AGE) disease here, the hardest hit among the 43 municipalities affected in the province.

City Mayor Julian Resuello ordered that all the city folk must drink only chlorinated water.

The mayor’s move was boosted by the city council when it declared the city under a state of calamity. Six drums of chlorine and medicines were bought and distributed to the barangays.

Combined forces of health personnel and barangay officials had to conduct a door-to-door monitoring of households to check if they are using the household container solution of chlorinated water.

Vice Mayor Julier Resuello said the mayor imposed a "Martial Law" style in dealing with this problem to ensure the health of the people.

From May 31 to July 20, there were 1,551 reported cases of acute gastro-enteritis in the town. Of this number, there were seven deaths and 45 confirmed cases of cholera.

Dr. Edwin Guinto, who was appointed by the mayor as chief of operations of the City Health Office’s "Oplan Alis Buris" (Operation Stop Diarrhea), said that the outbreak of AGE is "the greatest challenge posted to San Carlenians."

The task force created by the mayor found out that the contaminated drinking water was the main culprit for the outbreak of the disease.

This city has a population of 163,200 in 86 barangays. It has 27,203 households and a population density of 956 persons per square kilometer, the biggest in Region 1, Guinto said.

The disease started to increase by second week of June in Barangays Isla, Palospos and Matagdem. As of the other day, 85 out of the 86 barangays have been affected although the number of patients seeking medical treatment has decreased.

The attack rate was 176 cases per 10,000 population. Eighty-five percent of those examined showed their drinking water was contaminated. Fifty-six percent of the affected got their drinking water from shallow wells, 20 percent from deep wells, 18 percent from purified drinking water and six per cent from their water district.

The team also found out that 75 percent of the afflicted have their own toilets while 25 percent are sharing toilets with others.

Sixty-nine percent of those who have toilets said that the distance of their source of drinking water to their toilets is less than the required 25 meters, 15 percent said they have more than the required 25-meter distance while 10 percent had no answer.

Three wells examined — two shallow wells in barangays Libas and Isla and one deep-well in Barangay Coliling — were found positive of fecal contamination.

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit congratulated the city officials for their wonderful performance in addressing the problem.

"It taught us the value of good surveillance and sensitivity to an emerging problem," Dayrit told city folks when he came here the other day. He said that the most successful local government units are those that were able to bring the services and information to the people directly at their doorstep.

He urged the affected municipalities to start planning for the long-term solution of the problem as the disease will most likely recur if not properly solved through safe water supply and clean environment.