Cholera is an acute disease.The body’s intestine is infected with the Vibrio Cholerae bacterium.The infections comes sometimes without symptoms and it’s not very severe,but other times it can have complications.Cholera was discovered in the US 200 years ago,but it was partially exctinct by the time,with the development of new sewage and water purification.

Cholera is not a major treat.It can be easily prevented and treated,but if not treated,this disease can be deadly.

Here are some symptoms of the disease cholera:watery diarrhea,severe vomiting and major leg cramps,sometimes fever and loss of electrolytes which lead to:profound dehydration,circulatory collapse and anuria.Cholera incubation time is usually 24 to 72 hours since the body was infected with this disease.

People can take cholera from different locations.Either is in the food we ea eat,in the water we drink,or things we touch,cholera must be treated qucikly,otherwise the infected person might die from dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea within hours.People,who wish to travel in areas infested with cholera,must get a piece of advice before leaving there.The US Center of Disease Control has a telephone line for the public and travellers learn how to prevent cholera and other diseases.

To prevent cholera,when travelling in areas which can be infested with the cholera bacterium,certain recommendations must be respected:
1.water must be drank only boiled or treated with clorine and iodine.
2.food must be eaten only hot,because the heat destroys bacteria.
3.fish dishes must be avoided,especially ceviche.
4.salads must be avoided,the vegetables must be cooked.
5.different bevereages and food from street vendors must be avoided.
6.persons who travel to areas were the risk of infection with the cholera disease should not bring back with them perishable food or seafood.

At this time it has been developed a vaccine for cholera,called Wyeth-Ayerst,but is not highly recommended,because of the low immunity it provides.

In time,two other vaccines were made:Ducoral and Mutacol.It seems that this vaccine offers a little bit more protection against the cholera disease.

Even if this disease can provoke death,cholera is a simple disease that can be treated immediatly.The patient’s lost fluids by vomitting or diarrhea must be immediatly replaced.The patient can be treated orally.He must drink large amounts of a mixture made out of salts,sugars and water.If the case of cholera is severe,the fluid replacement is made intravenous.Rehydration must be combined with antibiotics,because medication destroys the bacteria inside the body.The best antibiotic used against cholera bacterium is the tetracycline.But there are other antibiotics which are good against cholera,antibiotics such as:cotrimoxazole,erythromycin,doxycycline,cloramphenicol and furazolidone.

If cholera is treated immediatly,it’s death rate is 1%,which means that a person from one hundred die because of the cholera disease.If not treated,the death rate is higher:50 to 50% of the untreated patients die from cholera.