Health official facilitates the examination of the children’s condition in the health center of barangay Lugo, Borbon town. (CDN PHOTO/ CARINE ASUTILLA)
Health authorities tallied 46 cases of typhoid fever has been reported in three barangays in Borbon town, north of Cebu.
Residents flocked to the barangay health centers to have themselves or their kids as young as 10 months old examined as they experience high fever, diarrhea, chills, abdominal pains among other symptoms of typhoid fever.
The Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) Central Visayas chief Rennan Cimafranca said the number of cases are alarming after their team visited barangays Lugo, Clavera and Cahel.
A resident, Jo Marie Caliao was one of the residents who went to the barangay health center to have his one-year old son checked.
He said his son Christian has experienced having fever for four days already after he and his father experienced the same.
“It can be easily passed on from one member of the family to another through the food you share and through air and dirty water used,” Cimafranca briefed the residents.
Edwin Branzuela Sanitary Inspector of Cebu Provincial Capito said that the water source in sitio Makina were found to have fecal coliform based on their water testing conducted last April and May.
He also noticed that only a few liters of chlorine were poured in with only 20 liters of chlorine every two weeks for the amount of water they are treating.
“20 liters of chlorine will not last 24 hours consider the volume of water from the source. It should be 200 liters every day and not twice a week,” Branzuela said.
He said their machine chlorinator was also destroyed so the residents use manual chlorinator which according to him is ineffective.
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