Cholera Pathogen
The local cholera disappeared in 1965. The understanding is
related to raw turtle eggs, and more particularly this is the first new Vibrio
cholerae O-139 Bengal type in China. Recently, Hong Kong residents have
contracted cholera after visiting Thailand, which has caused people to pay
attention to the cholera epidemic at home and abroad.
Cholera is
an acute intestinal infectious disease caused by Vibrio cholerae. Vibrio
cholerae serotypes O1 and O139, which produce enterotoxins, can cause cholera
outbreaks.
Symptoms
Most
patients have no symptoms or only mild diarrhea. Some patients may experience
severe diarrhea and vomiting with watery stools. Failure to receive proper
treatment in time may result in death due to severe dehydration.
The clinical
symptoms of cholera are mainly severe diarrhea and vomiting. The patient
usually does not have a fever. The water released is slightly gray, sometimes
mucus, blood-free, and slightly sweet. It is described as after washing the
rice. Water ('rice-water' stool). Because the water loss caused by diarrhea
sometimes reaches 8-12% of the body weight, there will be a drop in blood
pressure, dry skin and loss of elasticity, sunken eyes, sunken cheeks, or even
reduced urine or urine, and due to electrolyte imbalance There are symptoms of
muscle cramps.
way of spreading
Cholera is
usually spread by eating food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae.
Interpersonal communication is not common.
Incubation period
It ranges
from a few hours to five days, usually two to three days.
The main
method of treating cholera is to add enough water in time. Patients with mild
dehydration can be treated with oral rehydration saline solution. If the
patient suffers from severe dehydration, the lost water and electrolytes must
be replaced by intravenous injection. Antibiotics can also be used when needed.
Prevention methods
1. personal hygiene
Always keep
your hands clean, especially before handling food or eating, and after going to
the toilet. When washing hands, clean hands with liquid soap and water, rub
hands for at least 20 seconds, rinse with water and dry with paper towels or
hand dryer. If there are no hand washing facilities or there is no obvious dirt
on the hands, it is also an effective method to clean the hands with 70 to 80%
alcohol hand rub.
When
cleaning or handling vomit and feces, gloves and masks must be worn, and hands
must be washed thoroughly afterwards.
Patients or
carriers should not handle food and take care of children, the elderly, and
people who lack immunity.
People with
gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea should not go to work or
school and should consult a doctor.
2. food
hygiene
Only drink
boiled tap water or bottled beverages from reliable merchants.
Avoid
drinking beverages made from ice cubes of unknown origin.
Buy fresh
food from hygienic and reliable places, and do not patronize unlicensed
hawkers.
People at
high risk and those who want to reduce the risk of food borne illness should
avoid eating raw and uncooked food.
Five points
of food safety should be followed when handling food, namely smart choice
(choose safe raw materials), keep clean (keep hands and utensils clean),
separate raw and cooked (separate raw and cooked food), cooked food (completely
cooked food) And safe temperature (store food at safe temperature) to prevent
food-borne diseases.
3.environmental hygiene
Keep
sanitary facilities and drainage systems functioning properly.
The toilets
and places contaminated by excreta used by patients should be properly cleaned
and disinfected. Gloves and masks must be worn during the process.
Use
disposable rags to wipe off vomit/overflow feces, and then use 1:49 diluted
household bleach to clean and disinfect contaminated areas and nearby areas
Within a range of 2 meters), especially in places that are frequently touched,
such as door handles and handrails. Leave the bleach on the surface of the
contaminated area for 15 – 30 minutes to thoroughly disinfect it, then rinse
with water and dry. The metal surface should be disinfected with 70% alcohol.
Never use a
mop to clean up vomitus.
After
disinfection, the cleaning utensils must be soaked in 1 to 49 diluted household
bleach for 30 minutes, then rinsed thoroughly and allowed to air dry before
being used again.
After all
cleaning work is completed, hands must be washed thoroughly.
Advice for
tourists
Except for
some high-risk persons , passengers are
generally not recommended to receive oral cholera vaccine. At present, there
are no official regulations in all countries that require passengers to present
a cholera vaccination certificate as a condition of entry. For more
information, please visit the Tourism Health Service website of the Department
of Health.
Treatment
The most
important thing for the treatment of cholera is to quickly replenish body
fluids. For milder patients, electrolyte supplements can be taken orally (the
World Health Organization has its recommended ingredient formula). For more
severe patients, intravenous injection can be used to supplement water and
electrolytes. Oral antibiotics can shorten the course of the disease and reduce
the severity of diarrhea. Tetracycline is the drug of choice. For children
younger than eight years old, they are treated with erythromycin, furazolidone
or co trimazole. Although the mortality rate of cholera is less than 1%, the
mortality rate can be as high as 30% in a community that has been infected for
the first time and has no knowledge of cholera without proper treatment. For
example, until 1991, there have been no cases of cholera in Latin America for
more than 100 years, so an outbreak can cause rapid spread and serious illness
at the early stage. Wait for people and medical staff to understand the status
of cholera and the epidemic. Only effective control can be achieved, and the
mortality rate can be reduced to less than 1%. This shows that it is of
particular importance to control the epidemic situation and protect the health
of the people of the country when cholera is only beginning to have a case in
Taiwan.
To prevent
cholera, one must understand the route of transmission. Food contaminated with
Vibrio cholera, especially aquatic products, and contaminated water are the
source of infection in the early stage of the disease. If it is in the epidemic
period, family members of cholera patients have about 4 to 22% chance of daily
contact due to daily exposure Infected. Therefore, in addition to the
government's efforts to strengthen the epidemic prevention measures, if there
are cases, the relevant contacts, such as dining at the same table or traveling
with a companion, must be subject to inspection and health surveillance, and
the source of food needs to be inspected. Vibrio cholerae is very afraid of
heat, so when eating aquatic products, do not use raw food. As for traveling
abroad to epidemic areas , if you have any discomfort , you should seek medical treatment as soon as
possible. This will not only protect your life and health, but also greatly
help control the epidemic of this infectious disease.
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