EXPERTS from the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health arrived to investigate the cause of the diarrhea outbreak, as another reportedly died while admitted to the Viacrusis hospital in Sta. Cruz on Thursday morning, July 21.
In an interview on the Davao City Disaster Radio on Thursday, City Health Office head Dr. Ashley Lopez confirmed the second casualty as reported by the Incident Command Center in Toril.
The first incident of diarrhea outbreak started on July 16 at 8 pm in Toril. As of 2 p.m. on July 20, there were already 186 total cases, including recoveries and new admissions.
As of the morning of Thursday, July 21, the number of incidents ballooned to more than 200 cases.
“I would like to confirm that there is a late report of 1 more death in Viacrusis hospital,” adding that the 67-year-old suffered an incidental hemorrhagic stroke because of diarrhea.
Earlier, a 10-year-old boy also died of severe dehydration.
Lopez said the outbreak started on July 15, so they are still verifying if the 3-month-old baby was included in the list. However, the baby had already recovered.
For now, affected barangays rose from 18 to 21 barangays, including outside but adjacent to Toril like Dumoy, Baliok boundary of Talomo south, and Matina Aplaya.
In Matina Aplaya, Lopez said one patient complained of vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. They are still verifying if it’s related to the outbreak or not.
For now, he said they are still looking at possible causes of infection in water or street foods or mixed infections.
These are the following barangays with a total of 212 diarrhea cases in Toril District:
One in Alambre, four in Bangkas heights, one in Baracatan, 14 in Bato, four in Binugao, three in Kamansi, two in Catigan, 32 in Crossing Bayabas, 42 in Daliao, two on Daliao Plantation, three in Eden, 19 in Lizada, 35 in Lubogan, three in Marapangi, five in Mulig, three in Sirawan, 37 in Toril proper, two in Tungkalan and one case in a certain barangay that is being verified.
The top four barangays with the most number of cases are Toril Proper, Crossing Bayabas, Daliao, and Lubogan.
The patients are admitted to the hospitals in Toril and Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
He also said they utilized the contact tracers deployed during the pandemic to identify individuals affected by diarrhea.
In an interview Wednesday morning, Lopez said that as part of the mitigation measures pending laboratory results, the Environment and Sanitation Division enforced the closure of food stalls in Toril.
“Pending results of laboratory tests, the city government has suspended the operations of food stalls in Toril District until further notice,” Lopez said, adding that the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will address the needs of the vendors during the temporary closure of their business.
Vendors are also scheduled to undergo a fecalysis starting July 20, 2022, and shall undergo Food Handlers’ Seminar on July 21 at the Toril Proper Gym.
Lopez said that these measures are taken while the city government has yet to find out the cause of diarrhea. The CHO is also now waiting for laboratory results of water analysis, as well as findings from the testing and analysis of street food/drink samples from food stalls, and specimens from patients from the SPMC laboratory.
