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[av_heading heading=’PASSI BRGY WELLS CONTAMINATED’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Saturday, May 20, 2017
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ILOILO – Communal wells in Barangay Tubod in the component city of Passi tested positive for E. coli and coliform bacteria.
A Passi City government official confirmed the results of the laboratory analysis of water samples taken from four wells in light of typhoid fever cases and deaths in the barangay.
“Mayor Jesry Palmares ordered the closure of the concerned communal wells,” City Administrator Stephen Palmares said in a phone interview.
Personnel from the city, provincial and central offices of the Department of Health gathered the samples, Stephen Palmares said.
Mayor Palmares also ordered local health personnel to check other wells in Passi, especially in barangays near Tubod, he said.
Tubod had five confirmed typhoid fever cases with two deaths — a 47-year-old father and his 21-year-old daughter.
The father’s 4-year-old son also contracted typhoid. Mayor Palmares directed that the child be taken to a private hospital in Iloilo City for better treatment. The son has been discharged, said Stephen Palmares.
The other two cases were their relatives, health officials said.
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.
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.
Sanitary inspectors already suspected the wells might be contaminated as they 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.
Dr. Patricia Grace Trabado, provincial health officer, earlier said sources of water must be at least 25 meters away from septic tanks, comfort rooms and other possible sources of contamination.
Meanwhile the Passi City government provided Tubod residents free water for household use.
Three fire trucks of the city government were rationing water to the residents.
Villagers may get drinking water from water refilling stations to ensure the supply’s cleanliness, said Stephen Palmares.
Barangay Tubod has more or less 2, 000 residents.
“Subong back to normal naman tanan. Wala na kami sang reported nga dugang nga cases,” the city administrator said./PN
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