Cholera causes
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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
Patient may give a history of consumption of contaminated food or water, and travel to an endemic area. The symptoms usually develop within 24-48 hour of consumption of contaminated food. Patient presents with sudden onset, painless, odorless, rice watery large volume stool, abdominal cramps, vomiting and fever. If the severe diarrhea and vomiting are not aggressively treated, they can, within hours, result in life-threatening dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. The typical symptoms of dehydration include dizziness ( due to low blood pressure), wrinkled hands (poor skin turgor) , sunken eyes, mucle cramps (decreased potassium), and decreased urine output.
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]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed. ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 376&ndash, 7. ISBN 0838585299.