Iloilo City Health office (CHO) has reported that one person died and 26 others were hospitalized after eating at Dakasi Milk Tea House in Smallville Complex, Mandurriao.
In an interview over Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, CHO Chief Dr. Urminico Baronda Jr. said that the victims were rushed to different hospitals in the city after consuming drinks from the milk tea house on September 24 to 25. The patients complained of vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pains and fever which were symptoms of food poisoning.
CHO has also confirmed a fatality in 27-year-old patient Ben Jason Chang. Epidemiologist Dr. Jesse Alonsabe said that died of fatal arrhythmia or irregular beating of the heart which occurs when the electrical impulses to the heart that coordinate heartbeats are not working properly. He added that Chang suffered from loose bowel movement which led to dehydration, causing his kidneys to fail and eventually to arrhythmia.
Rachel Chang, sister-in-law of Jason, did not blame Dakasi in her Facebook post. “He died because of kidney shutdown due to severe dehydration. Negligence and carelessness of some health care professionals at a private hospital contributed to his death. “
“It was not primarily because of drinking milktea at DAKASI,” she stated.
DOH and Food and Drug Administration have already taken samples of ingredients of milk tea suspected to have caused the food poisoning. Baronda also asked the management of Dakasi to temporily close their tea house pending the result of investigation.
The management complied and issued the following statement:
“Dakasi management expressed regret over what happened to our clients who consumed milk tea and other food products. We are requesting for understanding from the public as no one wanted this incident to happen. The result of lab test by DOH-FDA will clear all doubts and assumptions as to the cause of poisoning.”
With reports from The Daily Guardian and Aksyon Radyo Iloilo.
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