Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Haiti and the cholera curse

We've been seeing on the news that the besieged country Haiti is now stricken with the extremely contagious and dangerous disease, cholera. Cholera is a disease that we don't see in developed countries and it's likely a disease that we can't even imagine. How can diarrhea kill so quickly? It's not very difficult with a disease like this.

What is cholera?

Cholera is a water-borne disease, which means it is transmitted through contaminated water, but it can also be transmitted through contaminated food. The bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, causes excessive watery diarrhea, which left untreated, dehydrates your body very quickly. So quickly that in severe cases, it can cause death within hours.

Can cholera be treated?

One of the saddest things about a disease such as cholera is that it is very easily treated. Fluids need to be replaced and as long as the patient is able to take in fluids by mouth, oral rehydration fluid that consists of water, sugars, and electrolytes, is relatively inexpensive and very effective. Once someone is beyond taking fluids by mouth, intravenous fluid is the only option.

Can cholera be prevented?

Cholera is an extremely preventable infection - clean water is all that is needed. Unfortunately, there are places in the world that don't have access to clean water or they did at one time, but a breakdown in infrastructure destroyed their source.

North America isn't immune to cholera. While in the present day, we don't have it, we have had it and the potential is always there. In 1911, deaths from cholera were reported in the New York Times, the result of poor sanitation in ships transporting immigrants to the country. It can strike any part of the world. Cholera's seven pandemics

It's sad that in this day and age, we still have a deadly infectious disease, which we know how to prevent and to treat if it is spread. Even sadder, is that the people who are dying from cholera are those who are the poorest of the world.

UN targeted in Haiti cholera violence
Haiti cholera deaths over 500