Cholera Epidemic Analysis

Outbreaks of cholera were not isolated to the European and Asian continents, as several major cases within the United States have been recorded back to colonial times. As trade increased with the old world, infected sailors bringing the disease to major port cities, spreading it even further as products became distributed across the nation. Famously documented as one of the most vital turning points for public health medicine within the US, the city of Chicago mirrored what was unfolding in the 1854 London outbreak. Congruent to Snow’s findings, entire families suddenly became severely ill and dying off. As an effort to combat the pestilence, Ellis Chesbrough, an already established railroad engineer, designed a series of sewer systems modeled

Although most disease struck the poorest, the upper class was not fully immune. Because people wanted to move to cities to make their lives better, they were forced to live around these diseases without proper means for prevention, protection, and recovery. Once contracting the disease, they would either die within hours or suffer from uncontrollable diarrhea and pain. In addition, scientific knowledge on disease was not as developed as it fortunately is today. Doctors had not yet learned the concept of a germ theory and instead associated the disease with the “bad air” that surrounded toxic, polluted cities. This “bad air” was known as miasa and was incorrectly used to explain the spread of cholera in major cities during the mid 1800s. After studies and research, doctors noticed that there was a heavy concentration of miasmata near certain rivers, but they still connected it to a lack of air quality in bustling cities such as Manchester, London, and Paris. Although air pollution and coal emissions did play a role in certain illnesses, they were not the main cause for diseases such as cholera. Poor ventilation, dirty homes, malnourishment, and no access to clean water made people easily susceptible to a ruthless disease like cholera. Moreover, causes of cholera were investigated more thoroughly after John Snow’s theory claimed that cholera was spread through the water John Snow was an English physician who is today considered one of the fathers of modern epidemiology, the branch of medicine that deals with the distribution and control of diseases relating to health. Finally, doctors could see cholera in a new light and were able to find better means of protection and prevention for its victims. Today, doctors recognize the germ theory of disease which states that some diseases are caused by microorganisms, and not just by “bad

This disease can be spread easily, and many people were infected for a while. Many people emigrated during these years because of cholera. “44 percent of respondents in an April 1999 Pentor Poll maintained that the

Haiti needed help since the cholera disease was new to the population. Nevertheless, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was informed of two United States HCW who became ill with cholera after providing medical services in Haiti (Schilling et al.,

Because cholera was one of the most deadly diseases, the transmission of the disease not only left a strong impact on Europe during the 19th century, but it conceivably also killed Montresor’s family. Moreover, the living conditions and poor health habits of Europeans added to the deadliness of the disease. One contribution to the spread of the disease was the living conditions of the lower class. The

In a blog post written by Sokari Ekine, the Nigerian social justice activist explains that cholera is an illness “exacerbated by heavy rains; poor sanitation; and limited clean water and associated poor hygiene” (Ekine, 2013). These components factor largely into the chosen intervention activities. Haiti is an island that experiences significant flooding due to its location in the hurricane belt; this flooding makes access to safe water a major issue in a nation with flimsy infrastructure (World Health Organization, 2011). This program plans to restore and improve water and sanitation facilities for they are the main mode of transmission for the cholera bacterium. The corresponding poor hygiene that stems from lack of safe water and sanitation will be addressed in the health education provided for community members.

In this book, Frerich narrates Piarroux’s scientific approach and active surveillance for cholera investigation. As a start of any scientific investigation, Piarroux established himself with the Haitian people. This tactic was especially important since the country was still recovering from the earthquake and the transition of new political leaders. While adjusting to the environment, Piarroux began to set map the trends of the cholera outbreak to specific areas in Haiti, thus leading back to the country’s largest river passage; the Aribonite River. Vibrio cholera is a pathogenic bacterium that causes

Certain organizations and companies such as Foundation Esther Boucicault Stanislas have created initiatives to help people in Haiti. These organizations and companies have established relationships with the Haitians as well other health care providers and it would be wise to beseech their help when trying to fix the issue of cholera in Haiti. The hospital of Saint Nicolas in Saint-Marc has been treating patients for cholera ever since the beginning of the epidemic. Healthcare workers there would be valuable resources on assessing the community’s needs for cholera treatment.

Although the mucosa itself does not appear to be damaged by CT, the net flow of Na+ into tissue is decreased and the net flow of Cl- and water out of tissue is increased so as a result, there is more Na+, Cl-, and water in the lumen than there should be. This leads to massive diarrhea and great electrolyte imbalance. A patient with severe cholera can lose up to 20L of water a day (Salyers A., Abigail, 141). At times, diarrhea becomes so dilute it is almost clear, containing flecks of mucus that it is called rice water stool because of its watery consistency (Salyers A., Abigail, 142). This rapid rate of water loss and dehydration is tremendously fatal. At its most extreme, symptoms emerge in 3-4 hours, previously healthy patients can die within 6-8 hours of infection, and more commonly go into shock 6-12 hours after infection and die within 18 hours (Weekly Epidemiological Record, 6). Cholera’s level of severity is very life threatening and remains a big problem even in our world today.

And in 2015, the trends have tripled. Cholera is preventable, and treatable but many Haitians do not have the resources against this disease. After a mere five years, 9,041 deaths have been registered and over 750,000 have contracted the disease. The registered deaths do not even account for the Haitians who remained in their homes and died without record. Thousands of Haitians that live in impoverished areas are suffering from this disease, one that can be easily cured in a developed country like the U.S. Cases of cholera have been much more prevalent in the poverty stricken population than the small richer population, since poorer communities or rural villages don’t have access or cannot afford clean water. Despite the flows of donated money to aid with the epidemic, cases are still increasing due to the root problem never being solved -- the unsanitary

Cholera is defined by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a bacterial disease that can cause diarrhea and dehydration. This is spread through eating/drinking contaminated food and/or water. Untreated sewage water and someone who defecated in open water are the main causes for this outbreak. Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated. Several treatments have been given to prevent this, while many people were able to battle this on time, several were not as lucky. Haiti’s largest river, the Artibonite became contaminated by wastes and other harmful bacteria from Nepalese soldiers stationed at the rivers upper valley. These soldiers were stationed there by the United Nations. The problem, is with this being Haiti’s largest river, many of its population (about 50-80 thousand to be exact) use this particular water to drink, bathe and wash clothes. This is where the cholera strain was found. The cholera outbreak in Haiti became a pandemic and a major public health issue. A pandemic is defined by Merriam-Webster as an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and effects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Mother Nature has her own schedule. Avalanches,

There are other common sources of cholera bacterium are surface or well water, seafood, raw fruits and vegetables, and grains. In water, Vibrio cholerae can survive for long periods of time, staying dormant. People in areas with poor sanitation, like crowded refugee camps, are at risk of cholera, due to the fact that water provided for said community could be a source of contamination of cholera bacteria. Seafood, when raw or undercooked, can be contaminated by cholera bacteria, if the seafood came from certain areas with contaminated waters. Since the 1970s, cholera outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by smuggled seafood from cholera-infected areas, and from the Gulf of Mexico. Shellfish are especially contaminated, due to the fact that “they filter large amounts of water, concentrating the levels of cholera bacteria”. Raw fruits—especially unpeeled—and vegetables coming from an area with a source of cholera are another frequent source of the cholera bacteria. Innoculation of the fruits

There was time where in Haiti that Cholera had spread among the people. Based on their study they found the reason why people got sick. First of all by drinking water from the rivers which had contaminated with Cholera and the people didn't know nothing about it. Second of all the food they were eating such as fish which came from the same river. This disease had the same effect on them like the Giardiasis, they had diarrhea, the people were losing weight and the only way for them to replaceable those water lost was by drinking more treated water and by

To investigate this hypothesis, data had to be generated to employ the standardization method. In collaboration with investigators at the University of Utah and the icddr,b (International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh), the serum of 45 and 30 cholera patients from Haiti and South Sudan were analyzed by vibriocidal against the V. cholerae strains PIC018 Inaba and PIC018 Ogawa with a serially diluted monoclonal antibody standard. By running part of the cohort at MGH, I developed a proficiency in the vibriocidal assay. I then analyzed the titers

Among the most widely known and feared human infectious diseases comes Cholera. Cholera is an infectious disease that has had 7 recorded pandemic outbreaks over the past 2 centuries, taking away millions of lives from across the globe. It is an acute ( critical) intestinal infection that causes copious watery diarrhea