STA. CRUZ, DAVAO DEL SUR -- The number of children getting afflicted with typhoid fever here continues to rise as health officials struggle to prevent the spread of the disease to other areas.As of yesterday, around 200 children have already been afflicted by the water-borne disease, which is now lurking over at least five villages. Mayor Joel Ray Lopez said the municipal government continues to provide medicines to the victims. He said he has also directed the municipal health office to find out the source of the contaminated water that is causing the disease, adding it was possibly a spring found in Barangay Saliducon. But residents of the affected villages of Tuban, Zone 1, 2, 3 and Astorga said they have been drawing water from the source for years now and it was only two weeks ago that their children caught typhoid. Raygene Manuel Madronero, municipal health officer, said affected villagers have been given medicines, and a health team sent to the area to conduct water sampling and chlorination of water sources. Madronero said pending the result of the water sampling, residents should boil the water they drink so that the typhoid-causing bacteria—salmonella typhosa—would be destroyed. Jean Ubial, Southern Mindanao health director, said the rainy season could have caused the increase in the number of suspected typhoid cases in Sta. Cruz. The Inquirer learned that the outbreak was not the first in the town. In February, at least 89 people caught typhoid in various villages, including the poblacion area. In nearby Digos City, the rainy season also caused the resurgence of dengue fever, another deadly disease caused by mosquitoes. Salud de la Cruz, city health officer, said they were constantly monitoring hospitals to determine if the number of dengue patients has increased. The city health office said that since January, at least 24 cases of dengue had been reported. De la Cruz said they were also working with village officials to control, if not eradicate, mosquito larva. She said health officials want to avoid a repeat of the health situation in 2005, when nearly 500 cases of dengue were reported. | 
