AT least 30 people from the remote village of Manaulanan in Pikit, Cotabato had been hospitalized because of typhoid fever, according to the North Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO). North Cotabato provincial health officer Dr. Eva Rabaya said the 30 patients may have drank contaminated water. She said the remote village has no potable drinking water and Manaulanan residents rely on commercially available mineral drinking water in gallons or bottles. However, some indigents drink from water pumps and open wells. Rabaya said no one was reported to have died among the patients. Many of the patients were children who are now in various hospitals in Pikit. She said the IPHO has sent a team to help the town health office in monitoring and medication of patients. The team also brought medicine and water purification tablets to help prevent water borne diseases.
