Cholera causes: Difference between revisions
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* ''V. cholerae'' is a [[Gram-negative]] bacteria which produces [[cholera toxin]], an [[enterotoxin]], whose action on the [[mucosa]]l [[epithelium]] lining of the small intestine is responsible for the characteristic massive diarrhea of the disease.<ref name=Sherris /> | * ''V. cholerae'' is a [[Gram-negative]] bacteria which produces [[cholera toxin]], an [[enterotoxin]], whose action on the [[mucosa]]l [[epithelium]] lining of the small intestine is responsible for the characteristic massive diarrhea of the disease.<ref name=Sherris /> | ||
=== Transmission === | === Transmission === | ||
* Cholera is transmitted from person to person through ingestion of [[feces]] contaminated water loaded with the cholera bacterium. | * Cholera is transmitted from person to person through ingestion of [[feces]] contaminated water loaded with the cholera bacterium. | ||
* The source of the contamination is typically other cholera patients when their untreated [[diarrhea]] discharge is allowed to get into waterways or into groundwater or drinking water supply. | * The source of the contamination is typically other cholera patients when their untreated [[diarrhea]] discharge is allowed to get into waterways or into groundwater or drinking water supply. | ||
Revision as of 16:22, 5 April 2012
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Cholera Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Cholera causes On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Cholera causes |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editors-In-Chief: Priyamvada Singh, MBBS [2]
Overview
Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.[1]
Causes
- Cholera (or Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera) is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.[1]
- Transmission to humans is by ingesting contaminated water or food. The major reservoir for cholera was long assumed to be humans, but some evidence suggests that it is the aquatic environment.
- V. cholerae is a Gram-negative bacteria which produces cholera toxin, an enterotoxin, whose action on the mucosal epithelium lining of the small intestine is responsible for the characteristic massive diarrhea of the disease.[1]
Transmission
- Cholera is transmitted from person to person through ingestion of feces contaminated water loaded with the cholera bacterium.
- The source of the contamination is typically other cholera patients when their untreated diarrhea discharge is allowed to get into waterways or into groundwater or drinking water supply.
- Any infected water and any foods washed in the water, and shellfish living in the affected waterway can cause an infection.
- Cholera is rarely spread directly from person to person.
- V. cholerae occurs naturally in the plankton of fresh, brackish, and salt water, attached primarily to copepods in the zooplankton. Both toxic and non-toxic strains exist. Non-toxic strains can acquire toxicity through a lysogenic bacteriophage.[2] Coastal cholera outbreaks typically follow zooplankton blooms. This makes cholera a zoonosis.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed. ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 376&ndash, 7. ISBN 0838585299.
- ↑ Archivist (1997). "Cholera phage discovery". Arch Dis Child. 76: 274.