Villagers in North Cotabato downed by contaminated water

INQUIRER.net PHOTO

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato — Four persons remained hospitalized Monday, three days after contaminated water sent at least 72 residents of a remote village in Aleosan, North Cotabato, into fits of vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain, the authorities said.

All 72 were taken to hospital, where their affliction was diagnosed as amoebiasis, and 29 of them had to be confined for at least a day, said Dr. Miguelita Patinio of the Aleosan District Hospital.

“We have four patients still confined (but) they may be discharged today,” Patinio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Monday in a telephone interview.

She said all of the victims were from Sitio Bliss in Barangay Pagangan.

“We learned the patients’ source of drinking water was a communal and open water well,” Patinio said, adding that all tested positive for amoeba.

On Friday, the villagers started experiencing abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue.

About 20 of the patients were minors.

Amoebiasis is an infection of the intestines caused by the parasite Entamoeba histolytica.

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