The twenty-first century is a time of new technologies and discoveries, including in the field of medicine. If earlier the epidemics of diseases that mowed entire families and territories, inspired fear and horror on people, today medical scientists have found ways to deal with many previously incurable ailments. For example, the cholera epidemic in Russia in the nineteenth century took the lives of more than two million people. However, today the mortality from this disease is only 5-10%.
The biggest epidemics in human history
An epidemic is the massive spread of a disease or infection. In the entire history of mankind, you can count a couple of dozen of the worst and most dangerous epidemics.
- Smallpox epidemic. In 1500, it reduced the number of inhabitants of the American continent from 100 million to 10! Symptoms of the disease - fever, aches in the body and joints, a rash resembling abscesses. The transmission method is airborne, contact-household. Mortality - 30%.
- Flu epidemic. The largest was in 1918. The disease killed about one hundred million people. Influenza is one of the worst pandemics to date.
- Plague, or "Black Death." In 1348, this disease claimed the lives of half of Europeans, and also struck China and India. Rat plague, or rather, rat fleas, is transmitted. Sometimes the disease breaks out in our time, in areas inhabited by small rodents. Symptoms of the disease - fever, cough, hemoptysis, panting. Modern methods of medicine today allow you to effectively deal with plague.
- The epidemic of malaria. A common phenomenon for residents of African countries. The carrier is a malaria mosquito. The mortality rate of the disease today remains quite high.
- Tuberculosis. Sometimes called the "white plague." The main reason for the spread is poor living and working conditions, poverty. In the early stages, the disease is treatable.
- Cholera. This is a complete dehydration of the body, which often leads to death. Six cholera pandemics killed millions of people on different continents. Symptoms of the disease - vomiting, diarrhea, cramps. The infection spreads mainly through food and water.
- AIDS. The worst of the epidemics. The disease is incurable. The only salvation is lifelong supportive therapy. At risk are drug addicts.
- Yellow fever. The mode of transmission is similar to malaria. Symptoms - chills, headaches, vomiting, muscle pain. The disease mainly affects the kidneys and liver. As a result, human skin becomes yellowish.
- The epidemic of typhus. Symptoms - fever, lack of appetite, malaise and weakness, headache, fever, chills, nausea. Infection can cause gangrene, pneumonia. The typhoid epidemic has largely influenced the course of the First and Second World Wars.
- Ebola fever. A deadly virus. Fatal outcome occurs in 90% of cases. The virus is transmitted through the blood, sputum of the patient and through semen. Symptoms - severe headache, fever, nausea, chest pain, rash, diarrhea, dehydration, bleeding from all organs.
The main reason for the global spread of infections is the lack of sanitary standards, poor personal hygiene, and the development of new territories.
Cholera epidemic
Cholera - an intestinal infection, which is accompanied by a sharp loss of fluid, dehydration. Caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera. The method of transmission of the disease - household - through water, contaminated food. There are several strains of cholera, each of which is serious in its own way. For example, Nepalese cholera, which does not cause much harm to local residents, has become a deadly virus for the population of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The largest foci of the epidemic were recorded in Africa, Latin America, and India. And although modern treatment methods can cope with this ailment, mortality is still 5-10%. In Russia, the 1830 cholera epidemic was the first large-scale manifestation of this type of infection. In combination with the plague, it took the lives of millions of people.
You can protect yourself and loved ones from cholera by observing the rules of personal hygiene. Especially attentive to their health should be those people who often travel around the country and abroad. You should always avoid dubious eateries and cafeterias. And food is not bought in natural markets, but in specialized places. Visiting foreign countries, it is better to vaccinate.
Three forms of cholera
Cholera is an infectious disease that affects the intestines and kidneys. The disease can occur in the human body in three forms, depending on the degree of dehydration.
- Easy. The main symptoms are diarrhea, sometimes slight vomiting, discomfort in the abdomen. Calls to the toilet can reach up to five times a day. The general well-being of the patient is satisfactory.
- The average form. Symptoms - diarrhea (up to ten times a day) and vomiting, which are increasing. The patient is constantly tormented by thirst and dry mouth. Minor cramps of muscles, feet, fingers can be observed.
- Severe form. Cholera disease at this stage is often fatal. Symptoms - profuse bowel movements, up to twenty times a day, repeated vomiting, thirst, dry mouth, hoarse voice. The body is dehydrated, a person takes on a characteristic look - a pointed face, wrinkled hands, sunken eyes. Lips, ears, skin become cyanotic. This is how cyanosis develops. Urination is less common, and soon stops altogether.
Children are most affected by cholera. That's because their body has not yet learned to deal with unusual loss of fluid.
The best prevention of cholera is personal hygiene. At the slightest symptoms indicating this ailment, you should immediately contact the hospital for qualified help.
How to recognize cholera?
Often this ailment is confused with other similar diseases, for example, with food poisoning, which has similar symptoms. And poisoning, as a rule, most people treat on their own. As a result, the treatment is carried out with the wrong drugs, and the disease itself during this time can take on a more severe form.
Therefore, everyone should know what cholera is, what are its symptoms and how to deal with it. So, the main signs of the disease:
- Diarrhea from five to ten or more times a day. The number of bowel movements is gradually increasing and can reach up to one and a half liters at a time!
- Pain sensations, as in case of poisoning, are absent.
- Vomiting is increasing. Nausea is not observed. The torn liquid resembles rice flakes.
- Rapid dehydration. The skin becomes bluish. A person is tormented by constant thirst, dry mouth. What cholera looks like (photos of patients) can be seen in scientific brochures and encyclopedias (and a little in this article).
- Muscle cramps.
First Aid for Cholera
If someone close has all the symptoms of cholera, you should immediately consult a doctor. The patient is subject to immediate hospitalization. However, there are situations when it is not possible to get medical care so quickly (staying outside the settlements). In this case, everyone should know how to provide first aid.
The main rule is more fluid. How much the body loses, how much you need to try to "infuse". It is recommended to drink every half hour for 200 ml. But this should not be just water, but a special solution (per liter of water - a teaspoon of salt and four teaspoons of sugar).
Particular attention should be paid to bowel movements, their disinfection. Ducks, personal care products should be carefully processed to prevent the spread of infection. Bedding needs to be changed often. Wash the patient's things at a temperature of 90 degrees. After washing, it is advisable to iron them.
Such precautions are mandatory, because getting infected in everyday life is not difficult.
Etiology and epidemiology of cholera
One of the terrible and incurable diseases of past centuries is cholera. Photos of bacteria taken under a microscope make it clear that the pathogen has the appearance of a curved stick with one or two strands arranged polar to help it move.
The microbes that cause cholera are lovers of an alkaline environment. They are able to decompose starch and carbohydrates, as well as thin the gelatin. The causative agent is susceptible to drying and ultraviolet radiation. When boiling, microorganisms die instantly.
Since cholera is caused by a bacterium that can be found in food and water, proper food handling is the best prevention.
If the infection gets into the sources of drinking water, it can affect entire communities. This is an epidemic. And when the disease already goes beyond the limits of one territory or the whole country, then a pandemic already takes place. Cholera is a disease, an epidemic, and a pandemic.
Diagnosis and treatment
Of course, you cannot make a diagnosis of cholera on your own. Symptoms of the disease alone are not enough. We need medical examinations that are carried out in special bacteriological laboratories. For research, it is necessary to highlight the patient - vomit, feces.
If you delve into history, the cholera epidemic of 1830 in Russia took more than one life. Everything can be explained by insufficiently strong medicine of that time. Today, the disease is treatable. To do this, it is enough to make timely diagnosis and therapy.
It must be remembered that cholera is an epidemic. She can hit several family members at once. Any suspicious symptoms should be the reason for going to the hospital. The incubation period of cholera is from several hours to five days. At this time, patients are already carriers of infection and secrete the pathogen into the environment.
Treatment of the disease is carried out only in hospitals, in special infectious diseases departments. The main task of doctors is to replenish and maintain the water balance in the patient's body. To do this, use saline solutions and medications.
The most common cholera pathogens are the classic biotype and El Tor cholera. Both species are sensitive to antibiotics. Therefore, treatment also includes the use of antibacterial drugs. Erythromycin is commonly used.
The best protection against cholera in our time is vaccination. The vaccine is administered twice a month. Doses depend on the age of the patient.
Cholera prevention
Cholera, like any disease, is better to prevent than to treat. To do this, it is enough to follow the rules of personal hygiene, as well as all the precautions that are used to prevent acute intestinal infections.
So:
- Cholera pathogens can be found in food, water. Therefore, you should never drink water from dubious sources. In extreme cases, it should be boiled over.
- Vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and other raw foods must be carefully processed before use.
- You can not swim in ponds where there are prohibitions of the sanitary and epidemiological station. Perhaps the water contains a stick of cholera or some other disease.
- Patients with signs of cholera should be hospitalized immediately, and disinfection should be made in the room where they were located.
- Visiting other countries, it is better to do vaccination. Of course, vaccination can not give one hundred percent protection, but in the event of an epidemic, the vaccinated body will be easier to cope with the disease.
It must also be remembered that even after complete recovery, cholera bacteria can infect the body a second time. Therefore, excessive vigilance and caution will not hurt!
How is the disease manifested in children?
The disease in children develops exactly as in adults. However, children are more difficult to tolerate the infection.
Most often, infection occurs through water or food. But in the case of children, infection through close contact is not excluded - through dirty hands.
Cholera bacteria, getting into the body of a child, cause severe intoxication and diarrhea. The development of the disease leads to impaired renal function (nephropathy), cardiac arrhythmia, pulmonary edema. Some children develop cramps, coma. Therefore, early diagnosis of the disease is simply necessary. In such cases, cholera disease is curable in almost a hundred percent of cases.
Treatment of sick children, as well as adults, is carried out only inpatiently. Therapy is aimed at replenishing the lost fluid. Patients with a severe form of fluid are administered intravenously.
Patient care also includes thorough disinfection of household items and bowel movements.
Do not forget about a healthy and nutritious diet. Indeed, during an illness a person loses a lot of fluid, and at the same time, weight.
The best prevention of cholera in children is to teach them to always wash their hands, food, and drink only boiled water. This is especially important when a child attends a kindergarten or school.
Conclusion
The development of medicine and science in our time has given a solution for the treatment of many dangerous diseases. For example, plague, smallpox, and typhus have become conditional diseases, since the vaccine completely eradicated them from our lives. Cholera disease, unlike them, is still relevant in some parts of the Earth. However, effective methods of treatment of this disease have been found. It is enough to seek help on time.
The largest outbreaks are recorded in remote areas of Africa, Asia, India. The main reason is polluted water, lack of sanitary standards, poverty and poverty. For many residents of those countries, the concept of "hospital" is unfamiliar. In such cases, the diagnosis of cholera and first aid can be done independently (though not always successfully).