Bukidnon woman only had UTI, cleared of killer pneumonia virus

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — All she had was urinary tract infection, not SARS.

Health officers pronounced "CO," a woman from Kitaotao, Bukidnon, clear of the coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Doctors at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) personally accompanied CO home to Kitaotao yesterday.

NMMC SARS committee chairman Dr. Arthur Tan said CO was only suffering from UTI, which, along with a change of climate, caused her fever.

Tan personally attended to CO and closely monitored her medical examination.

He said her x-ray result was normal and she was not experiencing shortness of breath. Her blood samples also turned up negative for the coronavirus.

"But her blood chemistry showed she was suffering from UTI, which was the cause of her being feverish," Tan said. "She also entered the country at the height of stormy weather that brought about a sudden change of temperature in CO’s physiology."

CO is a domestic worker in Taiwan who arrived in Manila on May 31. On the bus ride home to Kitaotao from Cagayan de Oro City, she told her mother she had fever.

On June 4, CO went to the Kitaotao Municipal Health Office for a checkup. Suspecting CO could be a SARS patient, health officers had her brought to Cagayan de Oro City for further medical tests.

While en route to Bukidnon from Kitaotao aboard an ambulance, the Cagayan de Oro City police sent a team to Barangay Puerto to stop the ambulance from entering the city. CO’s no entry into the city had been ordered by Mayor Vicente Emano, pursuant to a city ordinance barring the entry into Cagayan de Oro of SARS and suspected SARS patients.

Once the ambulance had reached the city entrance at Barangay Puerto at 2:00 p.m., policemen led by Senior Inspector Roel Toga of the Barangay Puerto police station barred the ambulance from entering the city.

Toga said they were only implementing the city ordinance and Vicente’s orders.

Acting Mayor Noel Guibone said CO was to be returned to Bukidnon, but Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri opposed him, because hospitals in the province of Bukidnon do not have the SARS facilities NMMC has.

Despite the findings CO is SARS-free, the city government will pursue the filing of charges against the police, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and all those involved in having CO quarantined at the NMMC Sunshine building.

"It’s not a question of whether CO was found negative or positive for SARS. It’s a question of violating a city ordinance that prohibits the entry of suspected SARS cases into the city," Councilor Maryanne Enteria said.

"It is in the Local Government Code that local government units (LGUs) have the autonomy to do everything they can in the name of public welfare," city health committee chairman Councilor Reynaldo Advincula said.

The Sunshine building is equipped with laboratory instruments, an x-ray machine, personal protective equipment for hospital personnel and isolation facilities that can be used for segregating suspected SARS patients. It has been inspected and accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO).