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DAVAO CITY—A 10-year-old boy died, while 146 others were brought to the hospital or sought treatment Tuesday night, after they suffered diarrhea.
Many of the infected bought food from the night market in Toril District, City Health Officer Ashley Lopez said Wednesday, citing their initial assessment.
This prompted the city government to order testing of the food items sold and the water sources in Toril.
“A lot of consideration could cause the outbreak,” said Lopez in an interview with the government-run Davao City Disaster Radio.
He said the only way to determine the cause was through the tests that the city government had conducted, the results of which are yet to be made public.
“We are trying to confirm (the cause of the contamination) through laboratory tests,” he said, as the city government ordered banning street food since Tuesday.
Dehydration
The 10-year-old boy died while undergoing treatment on Tuesday due to complications, including dehydration and acute renal failure, at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, said Lopez.
The boy was among seven admitted to the government hospital, although four were later released.
Lopez said that on July 15, the boy ate “isaw” (chicken intestines) and immediately drank water. He then experienced stomach problems. He was admitted to the hospital the next day and died Tuesday due to acute renal failure.
Fecal analysis showed that he had worms and may have experienced malnutrition, factors that would have aggravated the problem, said Lopez.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the Davao City Water District (DCWD) reported that the samples from 10 representative stations near the sources of the infection yielded “negative of Escherichia coli and total coliform” when tested.
“The water samples taken from the 10 stations underwent the Colilert-18 test. All samples yielded negative results for the presence of Escherichia coli and total coliform with chlorine residuals of 0.3-1.5 ppm,” the utility company report stated.
It also stated that it “found no major leaks in its distribution line along the affected areas when it conducted leak detection activities on top of the water sampling and testing” and that it followed strict protocols “to safeguard the quality of water” to customers.
DCWD spokesperson Jovana Cresta Duhaylungsod also said the city government would release the test results on the water samples.