prepare a file on the disease caused by microorganism acute disease chromic disease write their symptoms and precaution
Answers
Cholera is an acute epidemic infectious disease. It is characterized by watery diarrhea, extreme loss of fluid and electrolytes, and severe dehydration. It can be fatal.
It is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera (V. cholera).
What is cholera?
[Stomach pain]
Diarrhea is the key symptom of cholera.
The cause of cholera is infection by the V. cholera bacteria. These bacteria were discovered in 1883.
The German bacteriologist, Robert Koch (1843-1910), studied the disease during an epidemic in Egypt. He found a bacterium in the intestines of those who had died of cholera but could neither isolate the organism nor infect animals with it.
Later that year, Koch went to India, where he succeeded in isolating the bacteria. He discovered that they thrived in damp, dirty linen and moist earth, and in the stools of patients with the disease.
V. cholera bacteria live in shallow, salty water on microscopic crustaceans. They can also exist as colonies of biofilms that coat the surface of the water, plants, stones, shells, and similar items, and they can live among the eggs of midges, which serve as a reservoir for cholera bacteria.
Toxic strains of cholera bacteria produce a poison that triggers violent diarrhea in humans.
When the bacteria enter areas where humans live, they can quickly cause severe epidemics. Weather changes, population loss, and improved sanitation can all end an outbreak.
Symptoms
Only around 1 in 20 cholera infections are severe, and a high percentage of infected people show no symptoms.
If symptoms appear, they will do so between 12 hours and 5 days after exposure. They range from mild or asymptomatic to severe.
They typically include:
large volumes of explosive watery diarrhea, sometimes called "rice water stools" because it can look like water that has been used to wash rice
vomiting
leg cramps
A person with cholera can quickly lose fluids, up to 20 liters a day, so severe dehydration and shock can occur.
Signs of dehydration include:
loose skin
sunken eyes
dry mouth
decreased secretion, for example, less sweating
fast heart beat
low blood pressure
dizziness or lightheadedness
rapid weight loss
Shock can lead to collapse of the circulatory system. It is a life-threatening condition and a medical emergency.
Causes
[poor housing and sanitation]
Cholera is more common where there is overcrowding and poor sanitation.
Cholera bacteria enter the body through the mouth, often in food or water that has been contaminated with human waste, due to poor sanitation and hygiene.
They can also enter by eating seafood that is raw or not completely cooked, in particular shellfish native to estuary environments, such as oysters or crabs.
Poorly cleaned vegetables irrigated by contaminated water sources are another common source of infection.
In situations where sanitation is severely challenged, such as in refugee camps or communities with highly limited water resources, a single affected victim can contaminate all the water for an entire population.
powered by Rubicon Project
Diagnosis
A doctor may suspect cholera if a patient has severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, and rapid dehydration, especially if they have recently traveled to a place that has a recent history of cholera, or poor sanitation, or if they have recently consumed shellfish.
A stool sample will be sent to a laboratory for testing, but if cholera is suspected, the patient must begin treatment even before the results come back.
Treatment
It is normally dehydration that leads to death from cholera, so the most important treatment is to give oral hydration solution (ORS), also known as oral rehydration therapy (ORT).
The treatment consists of large volumes of water mixed with a blend of sugar and salts.
Prepackaged mixtures are commercially available, but widespread distribution in developing countries is limited by cost, so homemade ORS recipes are often used, with common household ingredients.
Severe cases of cholera require intravenous fluid replacement. An adult weighing 70 kilograms will need at least 7 liters of intravenous fluids.
Antibiotics can shorten the duration of the illness, but the WHO does not recommend the mass use of antibiotics for cholera, because of the growing risk of bacterial resistance.
Anti-diarrheal medicines are not used because they prevent the bacteria from being flushed out of the body.
With proper care and treatment, the fatality rate should be around 1 percent.