State of calamity declared in typhoid-hit Calamba City
By Niña Catherine Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:40:00 03/04/2008
CALAMBA CITY, Philippines -- Calamba City was declared in a state of calamity by the city government on Tuesday, a day after the Department of Health declared a typhoid fever outbreak.
Dr. Dennis Labro, spokesperson of the city health office, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday afternoon that as of Saturday, their office accounted for 201 typhoid fever patients admitted in five hospitals and 272 who possibly have typhoid fever based on the initial screening.
Some government hospitals here already lacked space for the typhoid patients so that many of them, with mattresses in tow, slept in the hallways while others used chairs and tables as their beds.
At the JP Rizal Hospital, Dr. Gonzalo Lavarias Jr., chief of hospital, said their admission of typhoid patients increased Tuesday night from 67 to 97.
He said the hospital had sufficient medicines but lacked space, which prompted the transfer of some patients to other public hospitals.
"It seems the number of typhoid cases is still increasing," he said.
Labro said they had cases in nearby Laguna towns like San Pablo City and Los Baños.
"But there might be a spillover of patients," he said, adding that some patients were being transferred to hospitals in Los Baños and faraway towns in Batangas.
Public hospitals in other towns were also offering their help, he said.
Even though the city health office found negative results of Salmonella typhi in their water sampling test, Labro said they still suspected that the outbreak resulted from water contamination.
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