Podcast 566:  The Cholera Pandemic

<p><strong>Contributor: Jared Scott, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Cholera has been responsible for 6 previous global pandemics and currently the world is in the seventh pandemic of cholera, ongoing since 1961.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Cholera originated in the Ganges Delta of India and spread worldwide but largely is unseen in the US and other developed countries due to water sanitation</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Cholera is a bacterial illness that is water borne and causes severe diarrhea</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Estimates say that there are 1.3-4 million cases annually and up to 143,000 people die each year from Cholera.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Treatment is largely supportive and can be done with oral rehydration therapy consisting of water, salt, and sugar.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are three oral vaccinations for Cholera but unfortunately are not widely available</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Cholera has been responsible for ushering in public health initiatives. Most famously when John Snow was able to isolate a single water source causing Cholera infections in London and by shutting it off eradicated the bacteria</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Cholera.”</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">World Health Organization</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, World Health Organization, 17 Jan. 2019,</span> <a href= "https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clemens JD, Nair GB, Ahmed T, Qadri F, Holmgr