cholera

cholera (kŏl`ərə) or Asiatic cholera, acute infectious disease caused by strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that have been infected by bacteriophages. The bacteria, which are found in fecal-contaminated food and water and in raw or undercooked seafood, produce a toxin that affects the intestines causing diarrhea, vomiting, and severe fluid and electrolyte loss. This overwhelming dehydration is the outstanding characteristic of the disease and is the main cause of death. Cholera has a short incubation period (two or three days) and runs a quick course. In untreated cases the death rate is high, averaging 50%, and as high as 90% in epidemics, but with effective treatment the death rate is less than 1%. The intravenous and oral replacement of body fluids and essential electrolytes and the restoration of kidney function are more important in therapy than the administration of antibacterial drugs. In regions of Asia, Africa, and South America where public sanitation is poor the disease is still endemic or epidemic; vaccination is recommended for people living in those areas. A theory of evolutionary biologists holds that the cystic fibrosis gene, a common but lethal recessive gene carried by approximately one in twenty Caucasians, affords those carriers partial protection against cholera.

Bibliography

See C. E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years (1962).

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cholera

Acute bacterial infection with Vibrio cholerae, causing massive diarrhea with severe depletion of body fluids and salts. (See bacterial disease.) Cholera often occurs in epidemics, spreading in contaminated water or food. The bacteria secrete a toxin that causes the diarrhea, which along with vomiting leads to dehydration, with severe muscle cramps and intense thirst. Stupor and coma may precede death by shock. With fluid and salt replacement, the disease passes in two to seven days, sooner if antibiotics are taken the first day. Prevention requires good sanitation, especially clean drinking water.