PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Health authorities here are confirming reports that 10 persons have died due to diarrhea outbreak in Balabac island town, southern Palawan.
“We need to confirm the deaths if they’re really due to diarrhea or due to other medical conditions,” Dr. Mary Ann Navarro, chief of the Palawan Provincial Health Office (PHO), told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Wednesday morning.
She stated this after the PNA informed her about getting reports from the Marine Battalion Landing Team-4 in Balabac that 10 had died since December 25, and that the outbreak had already affected 299 residents as of February 12.
The marine battalion is stationed in the municipality of Balabac, which is a gateway to Mindanao and Malaysia. The soldiers serve as security against Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist groups.
They are also part of the first responders in times of emergencies such as disasters and medical crisis.
As of Wednesday, the PHO has yet to receive any update from the town since the diarrhea incident was only reported by the PNA.
“Signal is very hard there. The rural health unit (RHU) staff is also having a hard time going to the barangays (villages) that is why they can’t see if patients will be brought to the RHU. Until now, no report was made to us,” Navarro added.
The last recorded deaths were on February 2 and February 8, according to the report by Marines,
Eight of the total number of affected residents had been referred for treatment in hospitals in the province.
“We are awaiting the official report from the Municipal Health Office (MHO) of Balabac. We have unofficial reports of increasing diarrhea cases and deaths that were reported by the nurse deployment program from the Department of Health, but we cannot report what is something that is unofficial and not confirmed by the MHO,” Navarro said in an interview with PNA earlier on Tuesday.
Per unofficial information, Navarro said she only knew of four deaths. “What we know about is the 180 cases with four deaths,” she said.
She disclosed further that diarrhea outbreak reports from Balabac became “intermittent” two days after Typhoon Vinta’s onslaught last December 23, due to the poor communication signal.
“Reports about diarrhea became intermittent. It will last for two weeks, then it will disappear again,” she said.
So far, what she knows is that the gravely affected barangays in Balabac are Salang, Melville, Ramos Island and Agutayan.
“All the water resources in Balabac proper are contaminated. In Mangsee, out of four water sources, three are very contaminated because of very poor sanitation” with E. coli or Escherichia coli, possibly from human waste, she added.
The information from the troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-4 said the youngest to have died due to diarrhea was an eight-month-old baby boy, and the oldest, a 63-year old female resident.
Before their deaths, they showed signs of loose bowel movement and vomiting with severe dehydration. (PNA)
