DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 July) – The diarrhea outbreak in Toril District here has claimed its fifth victim, a 36-year-old man awaiting his wedding.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, chief of the City Health Office (CHO), said over Davao City Disaster Radio that Jazzyl Almero, of Purok 5 of Crossing Bayabas, was reported to have died on July 22, after he was rushed to Adventist Hospital with an already critical condition.
He said Almero could have experienced “bacterial sepsis,” considering that he had symptoms long before he was admitted to the hospital.
Lopez added that between July 16 and 22, during the onset of the patient’s diarrhea symptoms, he was said to be already preparing for his wedding. Almero reportedly attended a premarital counseling and even paid wedding fees to their local parish.
Lopez, however, reported an increase in the recovery rates among those who suffered diarrhea because of the outbreak – a total of 153 individuals out of 288 recorded cases have already recovered.
The reported cases in Toril are from Alambre, Bangkas Heights, Baracatan, Bato, Binugao, Camansi, Catigan, Crossing Bayabas, Daliao, Daliao Plantation, Eden, Lizada, Lubogan, Marapangi, Mulig, Sirawan, Toril Proper and Tungkalan.
Lopez said earlier that the patients started manifesting symptoms of diarrhea after eating street food like “isaw” or grilled chicken entrail and tapioca drink sold by night market vendors along Rasay Street in Toril.
“The source is very common among them – presumably the street food – because right after the intake of food from that area, they manifested LBM, vomiting, and other symptoms related to acute gastroenteritis,” he said.
To mitigate the probable causes for the outbreak, CHO has collaborated with other agencies in implementing a temporary ban on street food selling in the area within Rasay St. and Toril Public Market, Lopez added.
Lopez also noted that the number of daily cases significantly decreased, from 78 cases in July 15 down to only four cases on July 24.
After weeks of the outbreak’s onset, the final report from the Epidemiologic Bureau of the Department of Health in Manila finally received the results for the water analysis and is in the process of consolidation.
Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte is scheduled to deliver the final comprehensive report on Thursday.
For the meantime, Lopez encourages the public to reach out to the incident command center (ICC) in Toril Health Center B located in front of the Magsaysay Elementary School. It distributes granules for the sterilization of water along with the diarrhea medicines such as Doxycycline. The ICC is open 24/7 and can be reached at 0956-756-5571. (Sophie Marian Tejero / MindaNews intern)
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