• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A nine-month-old boy died at the evacuation center in La Castellana, Negros Occidental on Jan. 25, bringing to two the number of fatalities among the residents affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon last month.
Dr. Ma. Girlie Pinongan, provincial health officer, said on Thursday, Jan. 30, the infant had cough and intermittent fever five days before he was referred to a private doctor.
When the Municipal Health Office realized that the patient was already severely dehydrated, he was brought to Ignacio Lacson Arroyo Memorial District Hospital in Isabela on Jan. 25, but he passed away on the same day.
The infant, whose family is from Barangay Cabagnaan in La Castellana, died due to community acquired pneumonia, Pinongan said.
Last month, a nine-month-old boy from Barangay Masulog, also in La Castellana, succumbed to cardiopulmonary arrest due to “acute gastroenteritis with severe dehydration.”
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said the Provincial Health Office is “on top of it”, stressing that they are closely monitoring the health condition of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Earlier, the Department of Health-Negros Island Region (DOH-NIR) reported that the health situation of the IDPs in the evacuation centers is “manageable”.
“What we are now seeing are the usual ailments experienced by evacuees such as colds and cough as well as fever, which are concerns similar to those usually being referred to rural health units and health centers,” Dr. Razzel Nikka Hao, DOH-NIR regional director, said
In the past weeks, the IDPs mostly complained of acute respiratory infections, among other illnesses. | GB
