5 kids dead in diarrhea outbreak in Sulu province

COTABATO CITY – Five children died of diarrhea as health officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) declared an outbreak of the water-borne disease in at least three villages of Pata town in Sulu province.

Based on the report of the Pata municipal health office, 44 individuals – mostly children – had caught acute gastroenteritis, according to ARMM Health secretary Dr. Kadil Sinolinding.

Twenty-seven of them were still confined at the Parang District Hospital in Sulu, he said.

“Contaminated source of water is the most probable cause,” Sinolinding said in a statement.

He said the deaths started on March 27.

Dr. Jubaira Isnain, chief of the Parang District Hospital, and Dr. Amilbahar Matingka, Pata health chief, were now personally managing the remaining patients, Sinolinding said.

A seacraft was also on standby in Pata in case patients needed to be transported to Zamboanga City, where more medical facilities were available, Sinolinding added.

He said incoming Armed Forces Chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. also sent two Huey choppers for the immediate evacuation of other patients to the Sulu provincial hospital for treatment.

He said Isnain had mobilized and deployed a bigger team of health front liners to the affected villages.

Sinolinding said water purifying tablets and solutions, water testing kits and food supply, had also been sent to Pata by ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

“Rest assured that we are monitoring the situation very closely,” Sinolinding said.