Typhoid claims lives of 2 Alegria residents

Typhoid fever in Alegria town, southern Cebu, has killed two persons.

The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) confirmed yesterday the death of a 61-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman. Both were residents of Alegria town but died in separate hospitals in Cebu City.

Their identities were still awaiting verification through death certificates from the hospitals, said engineer Noel Esparagoza, DOH-7 hospital maintenance and service division chief.

The 64-year-old man died while he was being brought to a private hospital in Cebu City from Reinhard Wirtgen Memorial Hospital in Alegria while the woman died at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after she was moved from Badian District Hospital on July 16.

Esparagoza said the two hospitals confirmed typhoid fever as the cause of death. Salmonella bacteria, which causes typhoid fever, was detected in their blood tests.

Esparagoza said the woman came from the mountain barangay of Compostela. The man’s home barangay was not yet verified.

The DOH recorded 142 typhoid patients as of July 21.

He said 14 patients are still admitted at the Badian District Hospital while all the other patients in Reinhard were already discharged.

“The situation has already calmed down, but we should not be complacent and observe proper hygiene at home,” Esparagoza said.

He said the typhoid cases were already confirmed through blood samples taken from 16 patients, seven of which tested positive with salmonella in their bloodstream.

He said the health department would still wait for the water results expected today to confirm if the water system of the municipality was contaminated.

The Regional Epidemiological and Surveillance Unit (Resu-7) recommended the installation of an automatic chlorinator to the water system in Alegria last December after a typhoid outbreak affected around 750 patients.

Esparagoza said that if the water samples would show contamination, he said that they would assess the measures taken by the local government unit to assure the safety the town’s water source.

If proven that the LGU didn’t follow the provision on the sanitation code on maintaining the safety of the water system, then he said that the LGU should be sanctioned.