Cholera

Cholera is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.^[1] It infects the small intestine.

There are many types (strains) of the Vibrio cholera bacteria. Some of them cause more serious illnesses than others. Because of this, some people who get cholera have no symptoms; others have symptoms that are not very bad, and others have very bad symptoms.^[2]

The most common symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea.^[3] In the worst cases, diarrhea can be so bad that people can die in a few hours from dehydration.^[4]

Cholera is a very old disease. Writings about cholera (written in Sanskrit) have been found from the 5th century BC.^[5] Throughout history, there have been many outbreaks and epidemics of cholera.

Cholera still affects many people throughout the world. Estimates from 2010 say that between 3 million and 5 million people get cholera every year, and 21,000–130,000 people die from the disease every year.^[3][6] Today, cholera is considered a pandemic.^[3][7] However, it is most common in developing countries,^[8] especially in children.^[3]

1. ↑ Finkelstein, Richard A. (1996). "Chapter 24: Cholera, Vibrio cholera O1 and O139, and Other Pathogenic Vibrios." In Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). Galveston, Texas: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. ISBN 0-9631172-1-1.
2. ↑ "Cholera - Vibrio cholerae infection Information for Public Health & Medical Professionals". cdc.gov. United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September 7, 2018.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} World Health Organization (March 26, 2010). "Cholera vaccines: WHO position paper" (PDF). Weekly Epidemiological Report. 13 (85). World Health Organization: 117–128. ISSN 0049-8114. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
4. ↑ Presenter: Richard Knox (2010-12-10). "NPR News". NPR. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
5. ↑ Harris JB, LaRocque RC; et al. (2012). "Cholera". Lancet. 379 (9835): 2466–76. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60436-x. PMC 3761070. PMID 22748592.
6. ↑ Lozano R, Naghavi M; et al. (2012). "Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010". Lancet. 380 (9859): 2095–128. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0. hdl:10292/13775. PMC 10790329. PMID 23245604. S2CID 1541253.^{[permanent dead link]}
7. ↑ "Cholera - Vibrio cholerae infection". cdc.gov. United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. October 27, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
8. ↑ Reidl J and Klose KE 2002 (2002). "Vibrio cholerae and cholera: Out of the water and into the host". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 26 (2): 125–39. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2002.tb00605.x. PMID 12069878.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)