Brgy Guadalupe resident: Typhoid kills 10-year-old

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Health Department has confirmed that a 10-year-old boy from Barangay Guadalupe diagnosed with typhoid fever died Wednesday at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

City Health Department Chief Dr. Daisy Villa said the lone fatality from Sitio Tugasan in Barangay Guadalupe was igG (Immunoglobulins G) and typhidot positive, which means he was infected with pathogens and bacterial species, particularly with salmonella typhi, which causes typhoid.

Typhidot is a laboratory test for typhoid disease, which involves mixing a blood sample with a test reagent and looking for a certain color result.

Villa narrated that the boy was brought to the Cebu City Medical Center last week after experiencing high fever and severe headache for weeks. He was transferred Monday to the VSMMC to seek advanced medical treatment when his situation worsened.

The boy was one of the 11 residents of Barangay Guadalupe who were rushed to the hospital last week as they were showing symptoms of typhoid.

Villa said a series of examinations had been done on the 11 patients for typhoid confirmatory laboratory test, while six more rectal swab samples were taken from people with direct contact to the nine patients suspected with typhoid.

Of the 11 patients, two boys aged four and eight are presently admitted at CCMC while the rest are confined at VSMMC.

Health officials are closely monitoring the two patients to check on the possibility that they are suffering from dengue.

VSMMC spokesperson Eleodoro Mongaya Jr. confirmed that four out of nine patients from Barangay Guadalupe who were earlier brought to the facility are still admitted while the rest were already sent home.

Villa said the patients’ ailment was due to lack of good sanitation conditions and hygienic habits.

Typhoid fever, according to the Department of Health, is caused by the salmonella typhi bacteria and is marked by a sustained high fever, headache, general weakness, loss of appetite, diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal pain. It is a bacterial infection affecting the lower gastrointestinal tract.

To prevent typhoid fever, DOH recommends chlorinating water supply, covering food to prevent insects from contaminating them, washing all fruits and vegetables thoroughly, and washing hands with soap and water after using the toilet and before eating.

Meanwhile, three water suppliers in Barangay Guadalupe were tested positive of fecal coliform by the Water Quality Division of Metropolitan Cebu Water District yesterday. These include the water distribution systems of Candido dela Cerna, Mario Communal Faucet and Rudy Haya.

The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments or ambient water indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of domestic sewage or nonpoint sources of human and animal waste.

MCWD spokeswoman Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara said they took six sampling points from three water suppliers in Sitio Sandayong and one in Sitio Tugasan.

Based on the result, three suppliers in Sitio Sandayong were tested positive of pathogens while samples from Sitio Tugasan got negative results.

A copy of the result will be submitted to Mayor Michael Rama.

“If consulted, we will also give recommendations on how to help residents of Sitio Sandayong have access to potable water,” Rodriguez-Kara said.

Meanwhile, the DOH-7 wants local health unit of the barangay to intensify their awareness campaign.

Renan Cimafranca, Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit chief, said that they have already distributed Aquatabs or water purification tablets to residents and chlorine granules.

One tablet can disinfect 20 liters of water while residents are also told to boil their water for 30 minutes before drinking.

“Nabuhat na man nato ang atong angayang buhaton, like community intervention. Now it is the role of the local health unit, ang prevention kay lisud man kung musapaw ta nila,” Cimafranca said. — Kristine B. Quintas, Ria Mae Y. Booc/ATO (FREEMAN)