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Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestines that leads to severe diarrhea and rapid dehydration, "which can quickly become life-threatening without treatment," says Dr. Jason Nagata, a ...
Symptoms start two hours to five days after exposure. [3] Cholera is caused by a number of types of Vibrio cholerae, with some types producing more severe disease than others. [2] It is spread mostly by unsafe water and unsafe food that has been contaminated with human feces containing the bacteria. [2] Undercooked shellfish is a common source. [9]
Vibrio cholerae is a species of Gram-negative, facultative anaerobe and comma-shaped bacteria. [1] The bacteria naturally live in brackish or saltwater where they attach themselves easily to the chitin-containing shells of crabs, shrimp, and other shellfish.
Human infectious diseases may be characterized by their case fatality rate (CFR), the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who die from it (cf. mortality rate).It should not be confused with the infection fatality rate (IFR), the estimated proportion of people infected by a disease-causing agent, including asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections, who die from the disease.
The symptoms of dehydration become increasingly severe with greater total body water loss. A body water loss of 1-2%, considered mild dehydration, is shown to impair cognitive performance. [ 8 ] While in people over age 50, the body's thirst sensation diminishes with age, a study found that there was no difference in fluid intake between young ...
Descriptions of cholera are found as early as the 5th century BC in Sanskrit. [4] The study of cholera in England by John Snow, between 1849 and 1854, led to significant advances in the field of epidemiology. [4] [10] Seven large outbreaks have occurred over the last 200 years, with millions of deaths. [11]
Symptoms of the disease appear between 12 hours and 5 days of infection; however, only 10% of infected people show severe symptoms of watery diarrhoea, vomiting and leg cramps. [8] Cholera is diagnosed through a stool test or rectal swab, and today treatment takes the form of an oral rehydration solution (ORS).
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