Borbon releases funds for victims

The Municipal Government of Borbon has approved the release of P175,000 for the immediate purchase of medicine to help curb the typhoid fever outbreak in their town.

The municipal council is scheduled to hold a special session today to determine if there is a need to declare the affected barangays as calamity areas so additional funds can be released.

Borbon Mayor Neil Vergara said he has invited barangay captains, officials from the Department of Health and the local water district to appear in the special session.

A concerned resident was the first to report the outbreak of typhoid fever in the northern town of Borbon to THE FREEMAN. Typhoid fever is usually contracted through food or water. Mayor Vergara confirmed the report and also the death of one woman and that over 200 people were brought to the hospital for treatment.

Borbon municipal health officer Corazon Dotillos said that based on their investigation, the cause of death of the woman from barangay Sagay was sepsis, a formation in an infected part of the body resulting in blood poisoning.

Dr. Dotillos added that another reported fatality, a 13-year old girl from barangay Cadaruhan, died of dengue and not due to typhoid fever.

She said, a total of 164 cases were reported to her office, but only seven were confirmed to be cases of typhoid fever. She further said that there were 40 residents who were confined at the Juan Dosado Memorial Hospital in the town of Sogod and the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

The Freeman learned yesterday that there are seven victims who remain confined at the Juan Dosado Memorial Medical Center.

One of the victims, James Malang, 12, of barangay Don Gregorio Antigua has been in the hospital since October 24.

Dr. Dotillos added that there are also some patients, who were admitted at private hospitals in Cebu City aside from the 40 that were recorded by her office.

The municipal health officer said, last week she conducted meetings with the people in affected barangays, tapped the barangay health workers to identify the victims, took samples from water sources in every barangay, and chlorinated the water.

Only 63 percent of the total population in the seven affected barangays of the town have toilets.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Provincial Health Office said that there is no outbreak of typhoid fever in the town, which is 75 kilometers from Cebu City, because only seven cases were confirmed.

This is contrary to the report of the regional office made by Dr. Renan Cimafranca, head of the Regional Epidemiology Unit of the Department of Health-7, who confirmed the outbreak of typhoid fever in different barangays of Borbon town two weeks ago.

Cimafranca said that the people suffered from typhoid fever after they found Salmonella Typhusa, the bacteria which causes the disease, during the blood culture examination of the patients.

The provincial government, however, has sent fluids and medicines to Borbon following reports of the typhoid outbreak.

Governor Gwen Garcia said, she has ordered Integrated Provincial Health Officer Cristina Giango to send dextrose and antibiotics to ensure that there is enough medicine for the victims.

Garcia however said that it is still premature to declare that there is an outbreak.

The more than 100 other reported cases could be just ordinary flu because of the weather condition, she added.

Nevertheless, Garcia said, IPHO personnel are now conducting a house-to-house campaign in the area to teach the residents proper hygiene, to answer the lack of toilets in many households.

Aside from that, the IPHO is also chlorinating the water supply in the affected areas. - Jose P. Sollano and Fred P. Languido