Dr. Gerardo Bayugo, the Department of Health’s regional director, said 16 hepatitis A cases were reported in Barcelona, and 13 in Buhi.
Tests on water samples, Bayugo said, showed that the cases stemmed from fecal contamination of the drinking water.
Nine more cases were reported in different health sentinels across Bicol, according to Dr. Ferchito Avelino, head of the DOH’s Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by a virus from feces-contaminated food or drinking water.
Avelino said local health authorities can contain the spread of the disease through proper hygiene and sanitation like installing sanitary toilets, checking the water system and testing the water regularly.
Most of the affected towns have no adequate potable water systems.
Residents, Avelino said, should boil their drinking water first if they get it from open wells and streams.
From January to August this year, there were 38 hepatitis A cases in the region, or an increase of 1,166 percent over last year. — Celso Amo