ILOILO CITY — A total of 26 high school students in Calinog, Iloilo have tested positive for Hepatitis A, Calinog municipal health officer, Cesar Rey Mestidio, said Tuesday.
Mestidio said these Grade 7 to Grade 12 students are from the Don Esteban S. Javellana Memorial High School. The cases were recorded from last week up to the present.
The hepatitis virus was traced from an infected food handler, he said, noting that Hepatitis A could be acquired from food and water.
Mestidio said the issue forced the school to shut down their canteen to minimize the spread of infection to other students.
Even the ambulant vendors, he said, were temporarily disallowed to sell food inside the school.
The health officer recalled that it was last week when some of the students showed symptoms of the disease, particularly fever and yellowish skin.
“We attended to those students who showed symptoms and they tested positive (for Hepatitis A),” he said.
As of the moment, Mestidio said these students continue to attend their classes, as no one needed to be confined to the hospital.
“We are continuously monitoring them and they were given medications,” he said, adding that they are also coordinating with the provincial and Western Visayas’ regional health office regarding the concern.
“We are also strengthening our advocacy among students and teachers the practice of hand washing because Hepatitis A could be acquired from fecal (sources) or orally,” he said.
Based on the official website of the World Health Organization, Hepatitis A is a “liver disease caused by the Hepatitis A virus, primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the feces of an infected person.” (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
