Cholera Research Paper Essay
Cholera is one of the most acute diseases, which is caused by infection with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. If untreated this disease is very dangerous and this is the reason, why it is so important to take the necessary measures in order to secure its prevention and appropriate treatment for the infected individuals. Today this disease is mostly the problem of the developing countries, as there are difficulties with clean water supplies, because the source of cholera is contaminated water or food. The paper will study the basic facts about cholera, its symptoms and causes, its genetic structure, transmission mechanisms and treatment and prevention.Cholera Research Paper Essay
The name of this disease had always associated with death and sufferings; it caused significant pandemics in the history of humanity, taking the lives of millions of people. Cholera is an infectious disease, caused by the strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The severity of cholera could not be underestimated as it might take just a few hours for severe dehydration and lack of electrolyte balance. “Cholera affects an estimated 3–5 million people worldwide and causes 58,000–130,000 deaths a year as of 2010. While it is currently classified as a pandemic, it is rare in the developed world. Children are mostly affected.” (Cholera – Vibrio cholerae infection). The risks of death for affected individuals are estimated as only 5%, if they have access to treatment and up to 50% in case they don’t. Cholera is without any doubts one of the most dangerous diseases and it has already taken the lives of millions people; due to the fact that it’s main source is contaminated water, it nowadays continues to be on the top of the risk lists for developing countries with lack of normal life conditions and ignorance of elementary sanitary norms.Cholera Research Paper Essay
The word cholera was taken from the Greek language, meaning “bile”. This disease originates from the Indian subcontinent and its outbreaks there could be explained by the low level of life there, using of the still water, lack of elementary sanitary conditions. Then it was spread with the help of trade routes to Russia and then to Europe. During the period of 200 years seven cholera pandemics happened, which confirms the assumption that this disease is utterly dangerous. In the 19th century cholera was rather widespread and millions of people died in various countries. Cholera was the first reportable disease in America, because of its severity. The name of John Snow is really meaningful for the history of this disease, as he was the first one in 1854 to state that the major cause of cholera is contaminated water. Thus filtering and chlorination of water have become the obligatory steps in Europe and North America. Thanks to water sanitation practices cholera cases are mostly not reported in developed countries. At the same time population of the developing countries continued to suffer from cholera outbreaks.
The major symptoms of cholera are diarrhea and vomiting and they start suddenly in a half a day or up to five days after the bacteria were ingested. If a person does not get the appropriate treatment, then he might produce up to 20 lit of diarrhea daily. Such situation is rather dangerous as without appropriate treatment it leads to dehydration and ruining of electrolyte balance. When an individual loses so much water, then his skin becomes bluish –grey and this is the reason, why cholera received the nick name “blue death”. “Patients can be lethargic, and might have sunken eyes, dry mouth, cold clammy skin, decreased skin turgor, or wrinkled hands and feet. Kussmaul breathing, a deep and labored breathing pattern, can occur because of acidosis from stool bicarbonate losses and lactic acidosis associated with poor perfusion.” (Sack et al., 2004, p. 224).
Transmission of cholera usually happens via contaminated water or food, which is the result of improper sanitation. Usually in developed countries there is a problem with food, whereas in most developing countries cholera is spread with the help of water. If some part of the so-called “rice water” or the products of diarrhea of the infected individuals, gets into the water, which is used by other people, then the disease would be transmitted further. The cases, when cholera is spread from one individual to the other, are rare.Cholera Research Paper Essay
For a healthy individual to have cholera it is necessary to ingest 100 million bacteria. However, those individuals, who have lower level of gastric acidity, are more inclined to catch cholera with much lower dose of bacteria. Also the highest rates of this infection are reported by children. Other characteristics, as for example the blood type or lowered immunity could also be decisive factors for infection.
The genetic structure could be described in the following way: “Amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting of the pandemic isolates of V. cholerae has revealed variation in the genetic structure. Two clusters have been identified: Cluster I and Cluster II. For the most part, Cluster I consists of strains from the 1960s and 1970s, while Cluster II largely contains strains from the 1980s and 1990s, based on the change in the clone structure. This grouping of strains is best seen in the strains from the African continent.” (Lan & Reeves, 2002, p. 175).
Cholera could be nowadays diagnosed with the help of a rapid dipstick test, which would define the presence of V. cholerae. As soon as the test is positive, then it is necessary to check the antibiotic resistance. In addition the patient’s medical history is also examined. For final confirmation of the diagnosis the laboratory tests are made.Cholera Research Paper Essay
Prevention in case with cholera is one of the most important aspects. This is the task of the government in each country to secure that the spread of cholera could be stopped and that the necessary prevention measures were taken.
The risks of cholera have decreased for the developed countries, as the advanced water treatment is a generally accepted practice there. For example the last serious outbreak of cholera in America was in 1910-1911. Under the condition that all sanitary conditions are properly considered, cholera transmission could be stopped. In addition there is a list of the necessary preventive measures, including sterilization, sewage, water purification. It is important to secure correct treatment of the fecal water, produced by cholera patients, as well as all materials, which remained contaminated, as they were in contact with cholera patients. The procedure of sanitation is done with the help of chlorine bleach, hands of the individuals, taking care of cholera victims, should be washed with chlorinated water or antimicrobial agents. The sewage systems are made in such way that the general sewage gets into underground water supplies, which are later used by other people. This is the reason, why it is important to perform antibacterial treatment of general sewage with the help of ultraviolet light or chlorine or other effective means. Humans need water for drinking, washing, cooking, etc. Thus a lot of attention should be paid towards water purification in order not to make it the transmitter of such dangerous diseases as cholera. There are a lot of possible measures for water sterilization, including ultraviolet, ozone water treatment, boiling, etc. Chlorination and boiling proved to be old and very effective means for purification of water for people.
A vaccine against cholera had been invented, but the World Health Organization does not consider it to be effective means for protecting people, as it lasts only several months. Each single individual is able to protect himself, if he follows elementary rules, related to using only boiled or chemically disinfected water.Cholera Research Paper Essay
The treatment procedures for cholera are based mainly upon hydration of the patients. Depending upon the severity of diarrhea the doctors choose, whether to use oral or intravenous ways of hydrating their patients. Antibiotics also belong to the treatment of cholera means, but they are not used in emergency mild cases. The role of antibiotics is to stop diarrhea and impact the excretion of the bacteria, which is important for stopping the disease spreading.
It was already mentioned that cholera is rare for modern developed countries; still people in developing countries continue to suffer from its outbreaks. It is necessary to note that the health policies of the governments there do play an important role for regulating of this problem. For example when in 2008 there was an outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe and when there were cases of cholera in Haiti after the earthquake of 2010, this was mainly due of the fact that their governments were not able to secure the adequate quantity of safe drinking water to their people. In other words this is the direct duty of the government to protect citizens of the country from such diseases as cholera. First of all via taking care of preventive measures and secondly, if there is still an outbreak of cholera, then the government should be prepared to manage it. Depending upon the steps, taken by the government, and upon the speed of copying with the disease spreading, it is either possible or not to stop epidemic or even pandemic. “Effective disease surveillance can ensure that cholera outbreaks are recognized as soon as possible and dealt with appropriately. Oftentimes, this will allow public health programs to determine and control the cause of the cases, whether it is unsanitary water or seafood that have accumulated a lot of Vibrio cholerae specimens.” (Colwell, 2013).
Overall, cholera is nowadays considered to be one of the most terrible infectious diseases in the history of humanity. It managed to take millions of human lives and at the moment it is not possible to state that humanity managed to cope with its spreading, irrespective of the existing effective prevention and treatment means.Cholera Research Paper Essay
References:
“Cholera – Vibrio cholerae infection”. cdc.gov. October 27, 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
Colwell, R. (2013). Oceans, Climate, and Health: Cholera as a Model of Infectious Diseases in a Changing Environment. Rice University: James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Kraft, S. (2017). Cholera: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment. University of Illinois-Chicago, School of Medicine
Lan R, Reeves P.R. (2002). “Pandemic Spread of Cholera: Genetic Diversity and Relationships within the Seventh Pandemic Clone of Vibrio cholerae Determined by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism”. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 40 (1): 172–181.
Sack D.A, et al. (2004). “Cholera”. Lancet. 363 (9404): 223–33.Cholera Research Paper Essay