CHOLERA

What is Cholera?

Cholera is a bacterial disease that causes severe watery diarrhoea. It's caused by a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae, which usually lives in the intestines of humans and animals. When it enters your body, Vibrio cholerae multiplies rapidly, releasing toxins that cause your gut to produce large amounts of watery diarrhoea.

Most cholera cases are caused by drinking water from unsafe sources such as wells, lakes or rivers. Cholera can also be spread when people eat food that has been contaminated with the bacteria that cause cholera.

This can be particularly dangerous if you don't have access to clean drinking water or medical treatment. If you aren't treated quickly, cholera can lead to death from dehydration within hours.

Cholera can be deadly if not treated.

Cholera is a waterborne illness that can lead to severe dehydration, shock and death if not treated. In the early stages of cholera, symptoms include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea (possible bloody)

Later symptoms include:

• Fever and sweating. Your temperature may be as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). You may also have chills.

Risks of exposure

When you're traveling to a place where cholera is common, there are things you can do to prevent getting sick. You should:

• Avoid very poor sanitary conditions, including drinking water from sources that may be contaminated (for example, water from ponds or lakes)
• Avoid household exposure by washing hands frequently with soap and water before eating and handling food; also wash hands after using the toilet or changing diapers
• Always drink safe water (water that has been boiled for 1 minute at a rolling boil for 1 minute).

Prevention

• Proper hand washing: Use soap and water for at least 20 seconds every time you wash your hands. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand cleaner (not lotion) with at least 60% alcohol content.
• Drinking safe water: Use a chlorine or iodine solution to treat all drinking water that comes from a public supply or well (unless the well has been tested and found free of contamination). Chlorine bleach is usually sold in tablet form as household chlorine bleach. Tablets come as single use packets or large containers that can be added to a larger amount of tap or bottled water for disinfecting an entire bucketful at once.

Conclusion

It’s important to know how to prevent cholera and what symptoms to look out for. If you think you or someone else has been exposed, seek medical attention immediately.