Tabuelan's diarrhea cases: No coliform in water, but cases rise by 12

Results from water sampling turned up negative of coliform but the number of diarrhea cases in Tabuelan town increased to 45 yesterday from 33 cases recorded Tuesday, according to the Integrated Provincial Health Office.

IPHO head Cristina Giango said that last November 14 they took water samples from various houses and results showed there has been no contamination of fecal coliform bacteria causing intestinal illnesses.

The tests were conducted to determine if the spread of diarrhea in the town was caused by water contaminated with coliform. But the results showed otherwise.

Giango surmised that the negative results might have been because the water samples taken were those already treated with chlorine following the earlier incidents of diarrhea in the area.

"It yielded negative results because the water was already treated with chlorine at the time we gathered water samples. There is a possibility that the water could be the source of the disease or the wrong preparation of food," Giango said.

Giango further explained that the rainy season could be a contributory factor to diarrhea cases.

Two persons were already recorded to have died from the illness. One was 62-year-old Loreto Villaguardia and the other was a 7-month-old baby from Opon who once stayed at barangay Tigbawan in Tabuelan.

For 13 days already since November 5, diarrhea struck Tabuelan, affecting the town's nine out of 12 barangays.

Currently, the Department of Health has been extending services to these places with medicines and fluids to the victims. - Jasmin R. Uy