What is cholera

What is cholera?

It is an acute, extraordinarily dangerous, infectious disease characterized by epidemic spread in the summer, manifested by abundant diarrhea with loss of fluid and development of dehydration. 

Symptoms

The time from the moment of infection to the time when the first cholera symptoms appear can range from several hours to several days. The first sign of cholera is sudden diarrhea. The chair is watery with white flakes and resembles a rice decoction. In the future, vomiting is added. With severe dehydration, symptoms such as cramps in the calf muscles pointed facial features; eyes fall, the skin becomes colder. Along with severe forms of the disease, there are lighter or even generally asymptomatic, when an infected person is merely a carrier and excretory of vibrios and becomes dangerous to others. 


Forms

 Isolate the typical and atypical types of it. The disease can occur in mild, moderate or severe forms, depending on the degree of dehydration. Atypical include an erased and lightning-shaped cholera.
What is cholera


Causes 
The disease is caused by Vibrio cholera, which can survive for a long time in water bodies, in sewage waters, they are resistant to low temperatures, they can hibernate in frozen sources. On food products, vibrios can survive for weeks but easily die under the influence of disinfectants and at boiling. The cause of it can only be a person who came from an unfavorable region for this disease. Transmission of the infection is carried out by the fecal-oral route through contaminated water. After getting infected with water in the stomach, most vibrios die under the influence of hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice. But if they manage to reach the small intestine, the vibrios begin to multiply intensively and produce a toxin, which irritates the intestinal mucosa and causes absolute discharge of fluid into the intestinal lumen - up to 1 liter per hour. Dehydration of the whole organism takes place. In case of cure, immunity to the disease does not develop, and it is possible to re-infection. 
Diagnosis 
The diagnosed from a characteristic clinical picture of the disease. Epidemics plays an important role: arrival from the region, unfavorable for the presence of it, possible contact with the incurable disease and the use of raw water from open sources. It belongs to the category of, especially dangerous infections. Therefore, if there is a suspicion of it in the patient, he should be immediately isolated in the office of the medical institution to which he applied. Next, a specialized team of patients hospitalized in an infectious hospital. The diagnosis is confirmed by the results of these microbiological studies of stool and vomit.
Treatment 
All patients with suspicion of it or carriage are subject to immediate hospitalization and isolation, represent a real threat of infection for others. The urgent medical measures include the restoration of water-electrolyte balance due to the intake of water-salt solutions in the form of drinking and intravenously. Besides, the treatment involves the appointment of broad-spectrum antibiotics, given the sensitivity to them from it vibrios in a specific endemic area.
What is cholera

 Complications 
In severe cases with the rapid loss of a large volume of fluid and electrolytes, hypovolemic shock, hypoglycemia of hypokalemia, and acute renal failure may develop. 
Prevention 
Do not drink raw water from unchecked open sources, mainly if it cases have already occurred in the area. After the treatment, the patients are examined during the year for the residual carrier of vibrios.
This article was all about what is cholera and the cholera symptoms.