Tuba-tuba fruit poisons 14 kids in Iloilo

Fourteen schoolchildren in La Paz, Iloilo were rushed to a hospital after eating fruits of the herbal plant tuba-tuba, GMA News reported Wednesday. Doctors at the Western Visayas Medical Center said the victims, all grade four pupils of NJ Ingore Elementary School, were now in stable conditions. Eight of them were already sent home while the six others were still undergoing treatment. The report said the children picked and ate the fruit during their recess period. After eating tuba-tuba, the victims felt dizzy and vomited. Also on Wednesday, Sun-Star Zamboanga reported that three children were rushed to the hospital in Zamboanga City after eating jatropha fruits. The children – aged two, three and six years old – took bites of the jatropha while they were playing at San Jose Gusu village over the weekend. Jatropha is potentially lethal to humans and animals once ingested. Doctors at the Zamboanga City Medical Center have declared the kids' health conditions to be normal. The three were already sent home. Rodel Agbulos, Zamboanga City health officer, said the children complained of stomach pains and vomiting after eating jatropha, known locally as tangan-tangan. Agbulos was quoted in the Sun-Star report as saying that jatropha fruits, once eaten, could cause death if medication is not immediately administered on the patient. - GMANews.TV