ILOILO City – Three residents of Barangay Ingore in La Paz district died of gastroenteritis and dehydration. A contaminated well is being blamed.
The City Health Office (CHO) conducted an investigation and found out that of the 21 deep wells particularly in Zone 4, Barangay Ingore, 19 were in fact contaminated.
The three residents who died were a 31-year-old adult and two children aged three years old.
According to the CHO, their gastroenteritis and dehydration were caused by norovirus, a contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea.
Noroviruses commonly spread through food or water that is contaminated during preparation or through contaminated surfaces. They can also spread through close contact with a person who has norovirus infection.
Diarrhea, stomach pain and vomiting typically begin 12 to 48 hours after exposure. Norovirus infection symptoms usually last one to three days. Most people recover completely without treatment. However, for some people — especially young children, older adults and people with other medical conditions — vomiting and diarrhea can be severely dehydrating and require medical attention.
On April 21, CHO personnel, barangay Ingore officials and representatives from the City Environment and Natural Resources, Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) and water supplier Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MetroPac) had a consultative meeting.
Among the reasons cited for the contamination of the 19 wells in the village were the dense population thereat, poorly maintained septic tanks and animal manure.
Councilor Alan Zaldivar, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Health who also joined the meeting, said they came up with recommendations to avoid further harm to the residents.
One is for the CHO to order the “condemnation” (permanent closure) of the contaminated wells and – for the time being – for MIWD and MetroPac to deliver water to the affected neighborhoods in Barangay Ingore.
But these were not long-term solutions, Zaldivar admitted.
“Short-term lang ‘ni anay just to mitigate the problem sa kakulang sang supply sang tubig,” said Zaldivar.
He urged residents to apply for waterline connection with MIWD to have safe and clean water supply. This is the long-term solution, he said.
Anther short-term solution that could be explored is rainwater harvesting, according to Zaldivar.
He proposed the installation of rainwater catchments.
Zaldivar said cleaning the contaminated wells is not practical./PN
