Cholera

Cholera is one of the most severe diseases of the intestines. It is a serious affliction, involving the lower part of the small bowel. It is a waterborne disease and is common during the monsoons. The mortality rate for this disease has been quite high.

The disease strikes suddenly and fills the intestinal canal with bacilli which die rapidly and leave the person quickly , alive or dead. It comes as a fell epidemic and creates havoc but subsides quickly in the locality. Those who are susceptible to it are carried away and those who are left alive are immuned to it. Thus after an epidemic in a non-epidemic area, there is no re-visitation in the locality for two or three years.

The original home of cholera is Bengal in India. It spread from this country during the 19th century in a series of epidemics along the trade routes. It reached Japan and also Astrakhan, in Russian, in 1817. The disease spread to Moscow in 1826, Berlin in 1831 and London and Paris in 1832. Subsequently, it spread to Canada and several countries in Europe. However, by 1895, cholera had disappeared from Europe.

Symptoms

Cholera appears in three stages. In the first stage, the patient suffers from mild diarrhea and vomiting, which worsens rapidly. The motions become watery, containing no feacal matter. The patient feels severe cramps in the muscles of the abdomen and limbs, resulting from lack of salts. The temperature rises but the skin is generally cold and blue and the pulse is weak. Taking water to quench thirst dilutes the body salt still further, and makes the cramps worse.

In the second stage of collapse, the body becomes colder, the skin dry, wrinkled and purple. Voice becomes weak and husky while the urine looks dark and formation is less, or altogether absent. It is in this ‘algid’ stage that the patient may die, as early as 24 hours after the onset of the symptoms.

In the third stage,recovery follows in favorable cases. All the changes seem to reverse themselves, the fluid loss decreases and there is improvement in the general condition. Even at this stage, a relapse may occur or the patient may sink into a condition resembling typhoid fever. The condition may deteriorate over a period of two or three weeks. During this stage of reaction, the temperature may rise and the patient may be in danger from pneumonia.

Causes

Cholera is caused by a short, curved, rod-shaped germ known as vibrio cholera. This germ produces a powerful poison or endotoxin. It is spread by flies and water contaminated by the germs. The real cause of disease , however, is the toxic and devitalized condition of the system brought about by incorrect feeding habits and faulty style of living. This condition facilitates invasion of cholera germs.