Mauie Flores

I had the biggest scare of my life last week when I brought my son to the doctor. I brought him to have his lungs checked since he was having his cough for more than two weeks already. That day, he also started to have loose bowel movements. I thought that it was just the natural reaction of his tummy because I changed his meds from Solmux to Ascof Lagundi syrup. The doctor ordered a fecalysis done just to make sure. And there it was, printed in bold and all caps: POSITIVE FOR ENTAMOEBA COLI CYST.

The doctor was explaining the condition using the term e-coli so I felt concerned and surprised at the same time. E. Coli is something you wouldn't want to hear since it is associated with food poisoning. I was wondering how it got inside my son's intestines. He brings food to school and I prepare that every morning. We also drink distilled water at home.

The doctor explained that E. Coli is supposed to be part of the natural flora of the intestines and is generally considered harmless. However, it is associated with amoebiasis and other diseases. It should not be confused with the Escherichia coli, that is also called E. coli, that causes gastrointestinal infection, urinary tract infection, and neonatal meningitis.

Since Ralph needed to have antibiotics for his worsening cough, the doctor prescribed Co-trimoxazole to also tame the E. Coli in his intestines and regulate his bowel movements. It was effective, by the way, because the LBM was gone after his first co-tri dose. The only downside is, I had to set aside my plans of buying a USB drive to buy the antibiotics. :( Oh well, it's almost Christmas anyway and I'm sure a lot of companies will be giving out free Logo usb drives as give aways. Health should always be the top priority.

To date, Ralph is well and his cough is almost gone. He's also more conscious now in washing his hands not only before every meal but every time he feels that he has touched something dirty. I guess, he also got scared of the E. coli event he had. By the way, the doctor advised me to wash fruits and vegetables with baking soda dissolved in water before eating or cooking. She says it's effective in getting rid of bacteria.

I think the recent flooding is also to blame for what Ralph had since the doctor also related that there's rise of gastrointestinal infections among her patients at the moment. Seems that we can never be too sure of what's safe and what's not nowadays so we better be careful than sorry.