BACOLOD CITY - A nine-month-old baby boy died in an evacuation center for displaced residents of Kanlaon Volcano in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.
Dr. Girlie Pinongan, provincial health officer, said that the baby from Barangay Cabagnaan, La Castellana succumbed to septic shock due to sepsis secondary to community acquired pneumonia in a hospital on Jan. 25.
The baby had cough and intermittent fever five days prior to referral to a hospital. He underwent private consultation and was given antibiotics.
However, a municipal health officer noticed that the baby was severely dehydrated an hour prior to the referral to a hospital that same day.
He passed away while he was admitted to a hospital in Isabela town, Negros Occidental.
He was the second infant who died in an evacuation center for Kanlaon evacuees in La Castellana. The first fatality was a nine-month-old baby boy on Christmas Day who died in a hospital from cardiopulmonary arrest due to “acute gastroenteritis with severe dehydration.”
Dr. Razel Nikka Hao, regional director of the Department of Health-Negros Island Region, said that they have enough supply of medicines in evacuation centers on the island.
Most consultations at these centers were for cough and colds, especially children.
The Department of Health has deployed six doctors, 43 nurses, 14 technical staff, and 77 other medical staff in 20 evacuation centers that cater to 3,072 families composed of 9,339 individuals as of Jan. 29.
Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II clarified that the deaths of two babies were not due to mismanagement in evacuation centers. He said that the provincial government is actively monitoring the situation of evacuees.