What is Cholera?

5. The release of a toxin from the cholera bacteria is what causes people to experience the dreadful symptoms. A negative health concern of killing the cholera at a quick rate is that since the phages will prevent symptoms from increasingly becoming worse, the “dead” cholera in the intestine may sit there for a longer amount of time instead of running straight through the person which may do more damage to the intestine.

6. Why would evidence of cholera in people living side by side, differing only in water supply, provide critical evidence?

The bacterium creates a specific type of toxin that unlocks chloride channels within the small intestine. As sodium chloride (NaCl) leaves the cells, water then follows, in a characteristic substance inclination to weaken the salt. Water surging out of intestinal cells leaves the body as looseness of the bowels. Cholera opens chloride channels, giving chloride and water a chance to leave cells. The CFTR protein does the opposite, instead of opening the chloride channel, it closes chloride channels preventing water and chloride from leaving the cells. [7] An individual with CF can't contract cholera, in light of the fact that the toxin can't open the chloride diverts in the small intestine. It is truly beneficial that individuals with Cystic fibrosis has an advantage when it comes to cholera, though today cholera has a treatment. Endeavors to stop the spread of cholera have been very successful; nonetheless, a major example of overcoming adversity has been treatment endeavors that have radically diminished mortality during the present pandemic. While cholera used to have a death rate >20%, with the improvement of oral rehydration treatment (ORT), the casualty rate for cholera has dropped to around

We see also the work John Snow (physician) who discovered the polluted public water Well as a source of outbreak disease such as cholera in the poor areas in London. This was the starting point of epidemiology

Causes: Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The bacteria releases a toxin that causes increased release of water from cells in the intestines, which produces severe

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

Between the 1830’s to 1860’s, cholera spread into the United States from India by trade routes. Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by drinking or eating material that is infected with Vibrio cholerae. Cholera causes watery diarrhoea, but can show days later or never show

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

The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, is a narrative that portrayed the determination of a man who wants to prove his theory. This narrative reveals the spread of a strange disease called cholera, and how people viewed science in 1854. Dr. John Snow used his integrative thinking to figure out how the disease was spreading so rapidly. John's ability to make a connection and get to the source of the spreading epidemic was marvelous, as he strived to save as many lives as he could. It is, therefore, important to have an open mind when learning why he did the things he did.

Cholera most likely originated in India as many as 1,000 years ago. The earliest documentation of recorded symptoms is from a medical report written in 1563. Later, the first cholera pandemic initiated in 1817 when the bacterium spread from India to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia, the East African coast and the Middle East and lasted until 1823. Modernization eventually increased the extent of the illness through providing means by which the bacteria could spread. On its own, Cholera would have remained separated from the rest of the world by miles of land and sea, but technological innovations connected the continents, and it did not take long for the bacteria to infect the precise human beings who would provide them safe travel. In 1826, unknowing merchants inadvertently carried the disease over trade

Having Diarrhea for a prolonged amount of time causes dehydration and leads to a loss of electrolytes in the body. This loss causes an imbalance in electrolytes and body and can be fatal. According to Biology, people acquire Cholera by drinking contaminated water which contains human feces and is generally in poorer areas of the world. The bacterium begins by forming a film around the intestines and also produces a toxin. This toxin is an enzyme that modifies the receptors of the cells which constitute the intestines, which happen to regulate salt and water secretion. The toxin which modifies the G-proteins in a cell makes it unable to utilize GTP which keeps the cell in its active form (Campbell,

12 Joaquín Sánchez; Jan Holmgren (February 2011). "Cholera toxin – A foe & a friend" (PDF). Indian Journal of Medical Research. 133. p. 158.

Cholera remains a drastically severe disease, killing hundreds of people each outbreak. When ingested, it attaches to the mucosal lining of the intestines and disrupts the normal flow of ions so that there is more sodium, chloride, and water in the intestinal lumen than normal and results in massive diarrhea. Cholera has made a global impact and been endemic in almost all parts of the world. Cholera control strongly emphasizes sanitation, clean drinking water, isolation, and careful food preparation. Two ways our body works against cholera as a self-limiting disease are sloughing cells and the secretory immunoglobulin (sIgA) antibody produced by mucus throughout our body. There are

The disease, cholera, is an infection of the intestines, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. As stated in Microbes and Infections of the Gut, the bacterium is “a Gram-negative, comma- shaped, highly motile organism with a single terminal flagellum” (105). Cholera is characterized by the most significant symptom that presents with the disease, diarrhea, and victims can lose up to twenty liters of body fluids in a day. Cholera can be a serious disease, due to the serious dehydration that can occur, but it is only fatal if treatment is not administered as soon as possible. This research paper includes information on the causes of cholera, symptoms, ways of treatment, studies of treatments, complications that may occur, the

The second phase of the disease involves the bacteria entering the immune tissue of the small intestine. This causes vomiting and diarrhea, often described as "pea soup." If left untreated, the bacteria can create a hole in the small intestine, causing intestinal matter to flood the abdominal area. If one is lucky enough to survive this illness without treatment, he or she can still be a carrier of the germs long after the symptoms have disappeared.