DOH to inspect Laguna jail after detainee dies of ‘Meningo’

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna, Philippines – Health experts were set to inspect on Monday a police detention facility in Biñan City in Laguna province after a female detainee died of suspected meningococcemia, a contagious disease.

Region 4-A Department of Health (DoH) chief Dr. Eduardo Janairo, on Sunday, said the 24-year-old died at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City on Saturday afternoon.

RITM doctors took blood samples to test if she had contracted meningococcemia.

The DOH and the city health office have started giving oral prophylaxis to more than 150 inmates and policemen at the Binan city jail.

Dr. Melbril Alonte, medical director of the Ospital ng Biñan, said the woman was first rushed to their hospital on Saturday morning after she passed out. The woman was said to have suffered from high fever, seizure, and had shown skin rashes.

“She was unconscious when she was brought in,” Alonte said in a phone interview, Sunday. He said that aside from the symptoms, they suspected it to be meningococcemia “as it happened too fast.”

Meningococcemia is a potentially life-threatening infection caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria that can spread through coughing or sneezing or sharing infected food or utensils.

‘Wall to wall’

Alonte said they temporarily locked down the hospital’s emergency room Saturday for a “wall-to-wall” disinfection, while administering prophylaxsis to patients and hospital personnel.

The DOH has started “tracing” the woman’s family and community to distribute medicines as a precaution.

Reports said the woman was arrested for illegal drugs on March 31. Jail visitors have also been temporarily banned, pending the results of the test from RITM. /cbb