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[av_heading heading=’ Passi brgy stops using contaminated wells ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Tuesday, May 30, 2017
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ILOILO – Residents of Barangay Tubud in Passi City where cases of typhoid fever were recorded recently have stopped using their contaminated wells.
Residents currently buy from water refilling stations for their drinking water, said Barangay Captain Elena del Castillo.
The Bureau of Fire Protection also delivers free water to the village every other day upon the instruction of the local government of Passi, she told Panay News.
Barangay Tubod has a population of 1,058 or 252 households but del Castillo clarified that only 96 households were affected by contaminated wells. Eight fire trucks were delivering water to them, she said.
Yesterday, the father and daughter who died of typhoid fever were buried. The 47-year-old Anecleto Santiago Sr. died on May 5 while confined at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City four days after his 21-year-old daughter Annelie Grace died.
Anecleto’s wife Meriene told Panay News she brought her husband and daughter to the district hospital in Passi City on April 24 due to high fever. It was only then that she knew they had typhoid fever.
A four-year-old son was also struck with typhoid fever. With the help of Mayor Jesry Palmares, Meriene brought her son to a private hospital in Iloilo City.
Typhoid fever is an acute illness caused by the Salmonella typhi or the Salmonella paratyphi bacteria. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area.
Symptoms include poor appetite, headaches, generalized aches and pains, prolonged fever, lethargy, sweating, dry cough, and diarrhea.
Provincial Health Office (PHO) sanitary inspectors observed that the wells were near households that mostly did not have septic tanks. The wells’ surroundings were also swampy and where some residents bathed and did their laundry, too.
According to the PHO, the communal wells in Barangay Tubod were positive for E. coli and coliform bacteria.
Coliforms are present in the digestive tracts and feces of humans and animals, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While they do not cause disease, they indicate the water might be contaminated by soil or feces. A positive coliform test means possible contamination and a risk of waterborne disease, the CDC said.
E. coli is a fecal coliform, some strains of which can cause illnesses (pathogenic) like diarrhea and others outside of the intestinal tract. The types of E. coli that can cause diarrhea can be transmitted through contaminated water or food, or through contact with animals or persons, said the CDC./PN
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