Availability of safe drinking-water: the answer to cholera outbreak? Nabua, Camarines Sur, Philippines, 2012
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2015.6.1.005Abstract
Background: In May 2012, there were increasing diarrhoea cases and deaths reported from Nabua, Camarines Sur to the Philippines event-based surveillance system. An investigation was conducted to identify risk factors and determine transmission dynamics.
Methods: A suspected case was defined as a resident of Nabua with at least three episodes of watery diarrhoea per day from 16 March to 22 June 2012. A confirmed case was defined as a suspected case positive for Vibrio cholerae. An environmental investigation was conducted and rectal swabs and water samples sent to the national reference laboratory for bacterial isolation. A 1:2 case-control study matching for age and sex was conducted. Data were analysed using Epi Info.
Results: There were 309 suspected cases with two deaths, and the most affected age group was children under five years (45%). Eight cases were positive for Vibrio cholerae Ogawa El Tor and one for Non-01. Water samples were positive for faecal coliforms and Aeromonas caviae. The case-control study showed that cases had a higher odds than controls of using unchlorinated water sources (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.6–8.5) and having toilets located within 20 m of a septic tank (OR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.4–5.3). In multivariate analysis, the only significant factor was drinking from piped water (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.09–0.49).
Discussion: In this cholera outbreak, drinking-water from unchlorinated wells was a significant risk factor. Future cholera control efforts should include not just improving water and sanitation systems but also intensified behaviour change campaigns.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
© World Health Organization (WHO) 2022. Some rights reserved.
The articles in this publication are published by the World Health Organization and contain contributions by individual authors. The articles are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any use of these articles, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted.
Attribution
The World Health Organization does not necessarily own each component of the content contained within these articles and does not therefore warrant that the use of any third-party-owned individual component or part contained in the articles will not infringe on the rights of those third parties. The risk of claims resulting from such infringement rests solely with you. If you wish to re-use a component of the articles attributed to a third party, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is needed for that re-use and to obtain permission from the copyright owner. Examples of components can include, but are not limited to, tables, figures or images.
Any mediation relating to disputes arising under this license shall be conducted in accordance with the WIPO Mediation Rules (www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/rules). Any inquiries should be addressed to publications@wpro.who.int.
License to publish
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response is an open access journal and requires each author of a contribution to grant the World Health Organization (the Publisher) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode) for the term of copyright and any extensions thereof. This includes to publish, re-publish, transmit, sell, distribute and otherwise use the article in the Journal, in whole or as a part. This is done by signing the WPSAR License to publish form.
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of the information on this website do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.
Links to third-party websites
The World Health Organization does not warrant that the information contained on the website is complete and correct and shall not be liable whatsoever for any damages incurred as a result of its use.