Ten were admitted at the district hospital or the Natalio Castillo Memorial Hospital, while two were at the provincial Gallares Memorial Hospital.
DOH 7 Assistant Regional Director Lakshmi Legaspi explained that admissions are expected to rise at night because of the patients’ fear that their situation might worsen.
Some of them live in far-flung areas and most were admitted for mild dehydration.
Legaspi expects to get the water samples from at least three water sources in Loon, Bohol, collected by the DOH 7 Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) yesterday afternoon.
DOH 7 sent Resu, headed by Renan Cimafranca, to take water samples. Legaspi said there are at least six water sources in Loon used by the Loon Water System.
Rectal samples collected by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) will also be brought to Manila for analysis.
The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City will conduct the water analysis. Legaspi said the results can be expected today.
Legaspi received assurance from the local government in Loon, Bohol that chlorination is regular in the area. Loon Mayor Cesar Lopez, though, said in an earlier interview that they have to determine what type of bacteria is present in the water system, so they can adjust the treatment.
Health and government officials are focusing on the water system as the reason for the diarrhea outbreak that killed a three-year-old girl and a 57-year-old woman, and downed 144 people, mostly children.
Mayor Lopez has since issued a memorandum for each barangay in Loon to conduct a house-to-house information campaign to urge residents to boil their drinking water and to practice proper hygiene.
The local government also distributed oral rehydration solutions for household treatment.
“Simple or mild cases (up to four bowel movements a day) can be treated by taking in more liquid like lugaw (porridge) and fresh fruit juices,” she said.
However, severe cases should be brought to the hospital. (JGA)
