MASANTOL – The provincial government has recently ordered the municipal health officers (MHO) at flood-stricken towns in the 4th district to closely monitor the condition of the residents particularly in this town where diarrhea cases are reportedly increasing.
Pineda instructed them to be on top of the situation and asked to exhaust all means to prevent diarrhea outbreak.
As this developed, she called on an emergency meeting with MHO officers following reports that several children from Masantol were rushed to hospitals in Pampanga and Bulacan for severe diarrhea after drinking water from deep-well pumps, which have been submerged in floodwaters since last month.
The meeting was also attended by Provincial Administrator Andres Pangilinan Jr. and Board Member Monina Laus, chairman of the committee on heath.
Dr. Abelardo Algarne, Masantol’s MHO, told Pineda that “only eight cases of people taken to hospitals for diarrhea had happened.”
“And the cases are simple diarrhea. No outbreak seen,’ added Algarne.
The Masantol MHO, in a report to Pineda, cited 83 cases of diarrhea recorded from September 16 to October 17.
Masantol and seven other towns in Pampanga’s fourth had been flooded for weeks shortly after typhoon Pedring hit the province .
To further ensure the safety of the residents the governor asked Pangilinan to regularly check the water at deep wells in at least eight Masantol barangays --Nigui, Alauli, Sagrada Familia, Bagang, Balibago, Baco, Iscundo and Sapang Kawayan.
Pineda, meanwhile, was disappointed when informed by Algarne that the contamination could have caused by the “wrong placing water pipes of deep wells near the river.”
“You (Algarne) already knew that. How come it’s only now that you are reporting that to me?,” said Pineda to Algarne.
The Masantol MHO said that residents of affected villages should start drinking water supplied by the local water district.
The Coliform bacteria in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms or pathogens could be in the water system. Most pathogens that contaminate water supplies usually come from the feces of humans or animals, it was learned.
Pineda instructed them to be on top of the situation and asked to exhaust all means to prevent diarrhea outbreak.
As this developed, she called on an emergency meeting with MHO officers following reports that several children from Masantol were rushed to hospitals in Pampanga and Bulacan for severe diarrhea after drinking water from deep-well pumps, which have been submerged in floodwaters since last month.
The meeting was also attended by Provincial Administrator Andres Pangilinan Jr. and Board Member Monina Laus, chairman of the committee on heath.
Dr. Abelardo Algarne, Masantol’s MHO, told Pineda that “only eight cases of people taken to hospitals for diarrhea had happened.”
“And the cases are simple diarrhea. No outbreak seen,’ added Algarne.
The Masantol MHO, in a report to Pineda, cited 83 cases of diarrhea recorded from September 16 to October 17.
Masantol and seven other towns in Pampanga’s fourth had been flooded for weeks shortly after typhoon Pedring hit the province .
To further ensure the safety of the residents the governor asked Pangilinan to regularly check the water at deep wells in at least eight Masantol barangays --Nigui, Alauli, Sagrada Familia, Bagang, Balibago, Baco, Iscundo and Sapang Kawayan.
Pineda, meanwhile, was disappointed when informed by Algarne that the contamination could have caused by the “wrong placing water pipes of deep wells near the river.”
“You (Algarne) already knew that. How come it’s only now that you are reporting that to me?,” said Pineda to Algarne.
The Masantol MHO said that residents of affected villages should start drinking water supplied by the local water district.
The Coliform bacteria in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms or pathogens could be in the water system. Most pathogens that contaminate water supplies usually come from the feces of humans or animals, it was learned.