Cholera

Cholera

A disease is the malfunctioning of the body organs due to several reasons . Cholera is categorized as a communicable disease , which is caused due to pathogens , transmitted from one person to another

Cholera is derivative of a Greek word , which means "flow of bile Robert Koch exposed V cholerae in 1883 during an eruption in Egypt . This comma-shaped , gram-negative aerobic bacillus organism varies in size from 1-3 mm in length by 0 .5-0 .8 mm in diameter . A flagellar H antigen and a somatic O antigen is the antigenic structure of

this organism Cholera is basically an intestinal infectious ailment , which is caused due to strains of the bacterium . The bacterium appears as rod shaped under microscope . When a person is infected by V . cholerae , it occupies place in the small intestine and begins producing an enterotoxin that causes plentiful , painless , watery diarrhoea . This causes the body to discharge an abnormally bulky amount of water into the intestine . The incubation period of Cholera is short , from less than one day to five days . It results in severe dehydration and death if prompt treatment is not provided . Patients show mostly symptoms of vomiting . Some V cholerae infected person do not become ailing , even though the bacterium is present in their faeces for 7-14 days . It has been observed that when patient fell with cholera bacteria , more than 90 of cases are of mild or moderate severity and are difficult to distinguish clinically from other types of acute diarrhea . Less than 10 of ill persons develop typical cholera with signs of moderate or severe dehydration (WHO

Vibrio cholerae

Cholera is known to be one of the most incurable diseases in its intense manifestation . If immediate treatment is not provided , a healthy person may become serious within an hour of the onset of symptoms and may die within 2-3 hours

Cholera is nearly unrivaled in terms of the speed with which it kills Electrolytes such as sodium chloride and water are absorbed through the intestines in human body . The Vibrio cholerae bacteria which produces toxin , paralyzes the gut in such a way that intestinal cells secrete water and electrolytes that results in diarrhea and extremely rapid dehydration (Charles L . Briggs , Clara Mantini-Briggs , 2003 . It is hard to survive for V cholerae bacteria in an acidic environment Therefore , any condition that reduces the production of gastric acid increases the risk of acquisition . Although the pathophysiology is not understood , individuals with blood group O are more at risk of developing El Tor cholera . Even the US President James Knox Polk (1795-1849 ) died of cholera at the age of 53

From the centuries , Cholera has emitted in a prevalent fashion on the Indian subcontinent . Garcia del Huerto , a Portuguese physician at Goa India , observed epidemic cholera in 1563 . Cholera is transmitted through water , has been proved by John Snow , a London physician in 1849 . From the perspective of eagle-eyed observation it is clear that when , during the early 1820s in Russia and then in Western...