Cholera

1. Strep or Sore Throat Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the MRSA Quiz!
3. Infectious Mononucleosis Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

View Full Profile

Medical Editor:

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

View Full Profile

• Cholera is a disease caused by bacteria that produce a watery diarrhea that can rapidly lead to dehydration.
• Cholera symptoms and signs include a rapid onset of copious, smelly diarrhea that resembles rice water and may lead to signs of dehydration (for example, vomiting, wrinkled skin, low blood pressure, dry mouth, rapid heart rate).
• Cholera is most frequently transmitted by water sources contaminated with the causative bacterium Vibrio cholerae, although contaminated foods, especially raw shellfish, may also transmit the cholera-causing bacteria.
• Cholera is presumptively diagnosed by patient history and examination of stool for rice-water appearance and presence of V. cholerae-like organisms microscopically; definitive diagnosis is done by isolation and identification of V. cholerae from stool samples, usually with immunologic tests.
• The main treatment for cholera is fluid and electrolyte replacement, both oral and IV. Antibiotics usually are used in severe infections in which dehydration has occurred.
• The prognosis of cholera ranges from excellent to poor. Rapid treatment with fluid and electrolytes result in better outcomes while people with other health problems beside cholera or those who are not rapidly replenished with fluid treatments tend to have a poorer prognosis.
• Cholera can be prevented with appropriate measures such as safe drinking water and noncontaminated foods; some protection can be obtained from oral vaccines while avoiding areas where cholera commonly occurs or has had a recent outbreak.