12 dead, 214 downed by diarrhea in N. Cotabato

VICTIMS of diarrhea crowd Alamada community hospital in Alamada town, North Cotabato, as more patients are coming for medical treatment. More than 200 patients were brought to the said hospital. WILLIAMOR A. MAGBANUA/INQUIRER MINDANAO

ALAMADA, North Cotabato—At least 12 persons died while more than 200 were downed after the victims complained of stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea in four villages here since Saturday.

Vice Mayor Samuel Alim of Alamada said that as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the death toll has reached 12. Alim told the Inquirer by phone that at least 214 patients from Upper Dado, Tigcawaran, Mampurok and Lower Dado villages were also brought to different hospitals.

Dr. Edifer Demetillo of Alamada district hospital said they were still trying to find out the cause of the illness. While waiting for laboratory test results, Dr. Eva Rabaya, the provincial health officer, said it was a diarrhea outbreak. Rabaya, however, could not say what caused the illness. “We do not know the main cause yet,” Demetillo said.

At least 117 patients were brought to the Alamada community hospital, Demetillo said.

Some of the patients were brought to nearby Midsayap town hospitals. “Many of them are weak and severely dehydrated,” Demetillo said.

Wilmar Robles, chairperson of Barangay (village) Lower Dado, said about 15 people from his village complained of severe stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

“Saturday night and Sunday night, the town ambulance had been transporting patients from far-flung villages to the community hospital,” Robles said.

Alim, however, said some residents believed there was chemical poisoning caused by the spraying of pesticides in one of the rice fields on Friday. He said residents suspected that the chemicals drained to the sources of drinking water of residents following a heavy downpour on Saturday.

“Health workers are now attending to the needs of those in the hospital, we need dextrose and other fluids to prevent more fatalities,” Alim told reporters.

The North Cotabato provincial health office has sent a team to arrest the outbreak.

Alim called on residents to boil drinking water.

North Cotabato Gov. Lala Mendoza has declared a state of calamity in Alamada.

As of 4:30 p.m., patients, transported by military vehicles from far-flung sitios, continued to arrive in the Alamada community hospital.

Private groups have also distributed bottled water to the victims.

Alamada is a rice-producing town in North Cotabato’s first district.  Edwin Fernandez and Williamor Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao