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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Polluted water kills 2, downs 132 in Bohol
CEBU CITY -- A diarrhea outbreak in Loon, Bohol claimed the life of a three-year-old girl and caused some 150 residents to be admitted to the provincial and district hospitals.
Health officials are looking at the town's water source as a possible reason, as the water may be contaminated.
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Loon Mayor Cesar Lopez told Sun.Star Cebu in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon that the heavy rains from the later part of December to the first part of January could have caused the contamination.
The Loon Municipal Council has declared the town under a state of calamity, according to an ABS-CBN report.
As of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Department of Health Assistant Regional Director Lakshmi Legaspi said 112 victims were admitted at the Loon District Hospital, while there were four admissions at the Gallares Memorial Hospital, a provincial hospital.
There were other victims who were already discharged.
Lopez also said the number of admissions has decreased.
Peaked
The number of admissions hit 34 last January 19, 27 on January 20, 40 on the 21st, 19 on the 22nd and 15 Tuesday.
But Legaspi said the diarrhea admissions started last January 17 yet.
The peak was last Sunday, when admissions reached 131. It was then that DOH 7 was alerted.
Lopez said there were only 80 patients left at the 25-bed district hospital Tuesday afternoon.
The three-year-old girl was admitted last Jan. 18 and died 35 minutes later.
There was also a 57-year-old woman who died at the height of the outbreak, but Lopez said the woman died of hypertension.
A team from the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) in Central Visayas of the DOH headed by Renan Cimafranca was sent to take water samples.
A team from the DOH-National Epidemiology Center (Nec) was also at the area.
Lopez expects the results Wednesday.
The team was led to the springs in Barangays Agsoso and Anpaeg to take the samples from the two sources of the Loon Water System.
Not food
"Duda namo is that the water got contaminated from fecal matter from humans or animals that were able to seep into the water system," said Lopez, citing the rains.
Legaspi has the same theory.
Fecal matter could have seeped in through leaks in the pipes.
Lopez pointed out that the water system is far from households. However, there are houses in the mountain barangays that do not have proper toilets.
Food was ruled out as a source of the outbreak because the victims did not share any food before their ailments.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) was also in Loon to take swabs from the patients for analysis, said Legaspi.
The results are expected in three to four days.
Initial reports state that the patients had abdominal pains and loose bowel movement (LBM). Some had blood and mucus in their bowels, which signal acute gastroenteritis.
Aside from declaring the town under a state of calamity, Lopez also issued a memorandum for all barangays to conduct an information campaign to boil drinking water and maintain hygiene.
Responses
At least 20 barangays are being served by the water system but the victims were from eight barangays only.
DOH Central Visayas, through Legaspi, is concentrating on four barangays--Basak, Coco-Norte, Poblacion and Sandingaw Island--where more victims were noted.
Principals from the different schools also issued their own memorandum not to allow students to buy anything from vendors, especially any liquid or semi-solid foodstuff.
DOH Central Visayas, the first to assist in the situation, sent personnel from the regional health office, the Provincial Health Office and Resu.
They brought intravenous (IV) fluids for rehydration.
The Municipal Government also provided dextrose and antibiotics and supplied the hospitals with distilled bottled water.
It will also provide food and cash for those admitted.
Lopez said they will also shoulder the burial expenses of the three-year-old girl.
Manageable
The municipality fielded two of their doctors. Lopez and his brother, who are both doctors, are also assisting the district hospital.
The team, along with national counterparts, will also dig up hospital records for any history of a diarrhea outbreak.
But as far as Lopez is concerned, there was no other outbreak this big in Loon except in 1975, when a cholera outbreak affected the island of Cabilan.
As of Tuesday, Legaspi said the situation was already manageable.
Symptoms of diarrhea include thirst, a dry mouth, dry skin, small amounts of urine, LBM, abdominal pain, and vomiting.
Lopez assured that the water system will be cleaned up. While chlorination of the water system is regular, treatment will depend on what bacteria contaminated the water. (Jujemay G. Awit/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (January 24, 2007 issue)
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