Typhoid victims get assistance from Capitol

CEBU, Philippines - The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) sent a letter to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) to negotiate the billings for the patients of typhoid fever from the town of Alegria, Cebu.

The PSWDO administration officer Wilson Ramos said they will pay a counterpart of P3,000 for each patient.

Ramos said they will not give cash to the patients but give the monetary assistance directly to the hospital to help defray the patients’ medical expenses.

The Capitol would also extend burial assistance to the family of the four patients who died.

Aside from the VSMMC, those who were admitted at the Malabuyoc District Hospital in the adjacent municipality of Alegria will also get the same aid.

Meanwhile, Rennan Cimafranca of the Department of Health (DOH) Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (Resu) said the natural reservoirs of typhoid fever are the feces and urine of people and not chicken manure as speculated by Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr.

The Resu came up with the conclusion from the bacteriological tests they conducted on water samples.

Dr. Christina Giango of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (Ipho) had reported that based on the number of patients admitted per day, there was already a decreasing trend in the typhoid outbreak in Alegria.

Although the cases are now under control, health authorities are not letting their guard down and continue to monitor the affected areas.

There were 724 patients examined and 250 were admitted from November 1 to December 16, 2010.

Typhoid fever is caused by the bacteria salmonella-typhi in contaminated food and water.

A person with typhoid fever will have high temperature that lasts for about two weeks, chills at night, headache, profuse sweating, and diarrhea. (FREEMAN)