Alegria typhoid incidence contained—docs

Local health authorities said the incidence of typhoid cases in Alegria town are contained but much work is needed to improve sanitation in the affected communities.

Alegria Municipal Health Officer Dr. Samson dela Peña said there are no more cases of typhoid fever in their town since Friday.

Peña cited the lack of sanitation in barangays Legaspi and Poblacion, where cases of suspected typhoid fever occurred.

He said toilets should be built in 13 houses in barangay Legaspi where most of the cases came from.

Dela Peña said it is the lack of toilets that contributed to the typhoid outbreak.

At least 11 victims ages between 5 and 18 and mostly children from barangays Legaspi and Poblacion of Alegria were brought to a local hospital after showing signs of typhoid fever.

Dela Peña, in a phone interview yesterday, said the 13 patients in Reinhardt Wertgen Memorial Hospital and three patients in Malabuyoc District Hospital have already been released after their health improved.

He told Cebu Daily News that people tend to indiscriminately dispose of fecal wastes to their surroundings.

Dela Peña said they plan to ask the province for a funding for this project.

Dela Peña said their office intensified the information campaign on regular hand washing and maintenance of cleanliness in their surroundings in Alegria.

Health authorities in Alegria town worked overtime to contain the typhoid cases in their area in the wake of the recent Tuburan town typhoid outbreak that claimed at least four lives and downed about a thousand residents since last month. / Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondent