1. Vibrio Cholera bacteria is caused by the contaminated food or water being ingested.
2. It dates back to 460 BCE and has caused 7 pandemics.
3. Symptoms include water diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and dehydration.
4. WHO created an oral replacement fluid to treat it and there are antibiotics.
5. It mostly occurs in third world countries.
6. It’s not likely to spread from person to person.
7. Simple sanitation of water and food can prevent it.
8. There are two vaccines available, but they only last six months.
9. If it’s left untreated it can result in death within hours.
10. Anyone can get it but elderly and children are most likely to die.
Case Study
Alfredo Garcia is a 27 year old man who lives in Santa Fe, Argentina. He lives there with his wife, Alona and three kids. His twin sons Santiago and Joaquin are ten years old. His daughter Valentina is eight. Alona is a stay at home mom. Alfredo works as a food critic, tasting many restaurants food in the Santa Fe area.
A week ago Alfredo went to a new restaurant Domingo to do some first-hand tasting. He had a seafood platter mostly filled with raw shrimp. On the side he had a glass of water. What he didn’t know was that the shrimp they caught wasn’t properly cleaned. Also, the water he was drinking didn’t go through proper sanitation because of the area didn’t have a good sewage system. He didn’t infect anyone but the restaurants cooking staff infected him.
Three days later he started feeling ill and couldn’t go to work. His family became concerned and searched for medical help. They found Doctor Vega who was the head doctor at Santé Fe Hospital. The Doctor thought it was just a stomach virus so Alfredo was sent back home. Later that night he started vomiting had watery diarrhea and became seriously dehydrated. His skin and mouth became dry. His eyes were sunken and glossy looking. His wife rushed his to the emergency room and his heart rate also rose. He was diagnosed with Cholera, a bacterial disease caused by the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
Doctor Vega gave him an oral rehydration fluid to reduce the amount of diarrhea and replace the fluids he lost. He had to drink large amounts in order to get better. It wasn’t working as well as it should have. Because that failed he was given antibiotics. The antibiotics reduced the severity of the illness.
The high amount of antibiotics caused him to be immune to them. He was dying of dehydration caused by Cholera. Doctor Vega tried to give him more of the oral rehydration fluid but it failed to work. The nurses did everything they could. Alfredo died at Santé Fe Hospital at the age of 27.
