Guimaras health officials looking at possible oil spill-related death
Health officials of Guimaras will look deeper into the death of a two-year-old child to know if it was related to the oil spill.
Guimaras provincial hospital administrator, Dr. Bobby Yuro told The News Today over the phone yesterday that they will be gathering more information from the parents of Alejandro Castillo Jr., a resident of Barangay Nauway, Sibunag, who died yesterday morning.
Although Yuro said that Castillo's death cannot as yet be known because the latter was pronounced dead on arrival yesterday morning, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Felecito Lozarita said that Castillo died due to chronic bronchial asthma.
According to Yuro, hospital staff refrained from asking the parents at the hospital on the son's condition before he was brought to the hospital because they were emotional over their son's passing.
We cannot confirm nor deny that Castillo's death was caused by the inhalation of fumes from the bunker fuel because we do not have enough data. What we have are sketchy information. We will still talk to the parents about this, said Yuro.
"We will gather more data in the coming days," he stressed.
In the meantime, Lozarita appealed to the media to refrain from speculating. "Stop making conclusions when we have not even made one."
Yuro checked the child's medical records.
According to him, Castillo was brought to the emergency room when he was seven months old for bronchial asthma. He was not admitted but was instead administered with medicines. When Castillo was a year old, he was admitted to the hospital on suspicions of pneumonia based on the drugs administered, Yuro remarked.
"So if I were to theorize based on his medical history, if indeed Castillo death is related to the oil spill because he was exposed to it (oil spill), it might that the fumes he inhaled exarcebated his already existing respiratory problems," he expressed.
But Yuro stressed that Castillo's death is only a 'probable' case of oil spill-related death.
"I would only say that it's a probable case of oil-spill related death pending further verification," he said.
Lozarita, though, was quick to conclude that Castillo's death was related to the country's worst oil spill.
"He had a history (of respiratory problems); he turns black during fits. He nearly died before but doctors were able to resuscitate him. So it's most likely not that he died because of the fumes," he said over the phone.
Moreover, Lozarita pointed out that Castillo's house was not along the coastline. "Theirs is inland."
According to reports, Castillo was the son of the cook for one of the island-resorts badly hit by the oil spill, and which has yet to be cleaned up.