Food poisoning kills 3, downs 4 others in Los Baños

A food poisoning outbreak has killed three people and caused the hospitalization of four others in Los Baños town in Laguna province, police officials said. The fatalities were identified as Gerry Fulgencio, 31, and his sons Jeremy, 7, and Jancel, 3. Gerry's three other children Jun, 6, Jeffrey, 13, and Jocelyn, 14, were still in critical condition at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) where they were taken late Monday night. The victim's wife, Delfina, 29, is now in stable condition. Initial reports showed that Gerry bought shellfish from a market for his family's lunch. Hours later, the victims started to have stomach pains and vomit. Gerry and son Jancel died around 4:30 p.m. Monday at Pagamutang Panlalawigan ng Laguna where the victims were initially brought. Meanwhile, Jeremy died later that evening while being transferred to PGH. Local health officials have collected leftover shellfish from the house of the victims to examine how it affected the victims' health. Last month, some 88 cadets of the Maritime Academy for Asia and the Pacific were hospitalized also due to food poisoning. They complained of stomachaches and dizziness after eating tokwa't baboy (pork-tofu). Meanwhile in August, seven children and 20 others were rushed to the hospital in Rizal province after eating meat dishes menudo and dinuguan during a blessing of a barangay (village) hall. In a related development, health authorities found that a recent food poisoning scare in Tala village, Caloocan was triggered by contaminated water and not due to unsafe food.-GMANews.TV