A patient in his 20s was transferred from Toledo City Hospital to Vicente Sotto Memorail Medical Center in Cebu City after his belly got bloated, which doctors said may be due to bacteria affecting his intestine.
The male patient is one of 26 cases being monitored by the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU). The Toledo City Hospital doesn’t have the equipment to deal with his condition.
“He has been referred to VSMMC because there is a possibility that his intestine might been affected with the bacteria especially his belly started to bloat,” RESU-7 unit head Reynan Cimafranca said.
RESU-7 confirmed the presence of fecal coliform and ecoli bacteria in the water sources in sitios Bayabas and Lumboy in barangay Subayon, Toledo City.
Cimafranca said most households in the area have no toilets. As of 11:30 a.m today, there were 26 cases of fever and abdominal pain recorded with 14 admissions at Toledo City Hospital.
Most patients manifested signs and symptoms of typhoid fever which include sustained high fever, headache, malaise (weakness), anorexia (loss of appetite) either diarrhea or constipation and abdominal discomfort.
Antiobiotics such as ciprofloxacin were given to adults while Cetriaxone (injectable antibiotic) will be given pregnant women and children, Cimafranca said.
Cimafranca said they have yet to receive the results of the stool examinations of patients to determine if they are afflicted with typhoid fever. The results will be available on Thursday this week.
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