Cholera history and symptoms: Difference between revisions
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** An untreated person with cholera may produce 10–20 litres of diarrhea a day with fatal results | ** An untreated person with cholera may produce 10–20 litres of diarrhea a day with fatal results | ||
* [[Abdominal cramps]] (due to large volume of intestinal secretion) | * [[Abdominal cramps]] (due to large volume of intestinal secretion) | ||
====Vomiting==== | ====Vomiting==== | ||
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* [[Fever]] is usually absent | * [[Fever]] is usually absent | ||
Other minor symptoms include excessive thirst, [[fatigue]], [[oliguria]] and [[weakness]]. | Other minor symptoms include excessive thirst, [[fatigue]], [[oliguria]] and [[weakness]]. For every symptomatic person, three to 100 people get the infection but remain asymptomatic<ref>{{cite journal |author=King AA, Ionides EL, J.Luckhurst, Bouma MJ |title=Inapparent infections and cholera dynamics |journal=Nature |volume=454 |issue=7206 |pages=877–80 |year=2008 |month=August |pmid=18704085 |doi=10.1038/nature07084 |url=}}</ref> | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
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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/or travel to an endemic area. Cholera symptoms usually develop within 24-48 hour of infection. Patients present 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 (due to poor skin turgor), sunken eyes, muscle cramps (due to hypokalemia), and decreased urine output.[1][2][3]
History and Symptoms
History
Cholera patients' histories may include consumption of contaminated food/water and/or recent travel to a cholera endemic area may be present. Symptoms usually develop 24-48 hours after infection.
Symptoms
Symptoms of cholera include the following:[1][2][3]
Diarrhea
- Sudden-onset
- Painless
- Odorless
- Watery consistency (initially it may have some fecal matter but with disease progression stool becomes mostly watery)
- It is pale white in color and thus is sometimes referred as 'rice-water stool' (has a similar color and consistency as water left after washing rice)
- Voluminous (stool volume during cholera is more than that of any other infectious diarrhea causing uncontrolled bowel movements)
- An untreated person with cholera may produce 10–20 litres of diarrhea a day with fatal results
- Abdominal cramps (due to large volume of intestinal secretion)
Vomiting
- Causes for vomiting are decreased intestinal motility and acidemia
Muscle Cramp
- 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
- Cholera has been nicknamed the blue death due to a patient's skin turning a bluish-gray hue from extreme loss of fluids.[4]
Fever
- Fever is usually absent
Other minor symptoms include excessive thirst, fatigue, oliguria and weakness. For every symptomatic person, three to 100 people get the infection but remain asymptomatic[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sack DA, Sack RB, Nair GB, Siddique AK (2004). "Cholera". Lancet. 363 (9404): 223–33. PMID 14738797.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weil AA, Khan AI, Chowdhury F, Larocque RC, Faruque AS, Ryan ET; et al. (2009). "Clinical outcomes in household contacts of patients with cholera in Bangladesh". Clin Infect Dis. 49 (10): 1473–9. doi:10.1086/644779. PMC 2783773. PMID 19842974.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Morris JG, Wilson R, Davis BR, Wachsmuth IK, Riddle CF, Wathen HG; et al. (1981). "Non-O group 1 Vibrio cholerae gastroenteritis in the United States: clinical, epidemiologic, and laboratory characteristics of sporadic cases". Ann Intern Med. 94 (5): 656–8. PMID 7235397.
- ↑ McElroy, Ann and Patricia K. Townsend. Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2009, 375.
- ↑ King AA, Ionides EL, J.Luckhurst, Bouma MJ (2008). "Inapparent infections and cholera dynamics". Nature. 454 (7206): 877–80. doi:10.1038/nature07084. PMID 18704085. Unknown parameter
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