Introduction
Cholera is a nasty intestinal bacterium that is a significant threat to global public health and has an estimated death rate of over one hundred thousand cases yearly. A virulent and deadly disease, it has long been fought with, and by this day, many developed countries have almost entirely eradicated the spread of cholera. However, not all countries have managed to reach such a level of protection from the disease, and their struggle against it continues. It is believed that clean food and water are essential to protect people from the disease outbreaks, and communities continue to invent new practices to eliminate the cholera threat.
History
Cholera is an infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera, and it leads to diarrhea and, consequently, to rapid dehydration; if not treated, it causes death. To prevent cholera, it is required to remove “human excrement from the environment, especially the food and water supply” (Davies, Bowman & Luby, 2017, p. S71). The disease has an extremely short incubation period – from a few hours to several days, – and it gives way to extremely explosive potential outbreaks. Immunocompromised people, such as those living with HIV or malnourished children, are more susceptible to the disease, so developing countries are a priori at higher risk than developed ones. However, it is the latter that successfully incorporate practices to improve sanitation conditions, so today, there are no significant cholera outbreaks in such countries as the US or Canada.
Eradication
However, although there are several efficient practices and successful campaigns of cholera eradication, it is still present in underdeveloped regions, so the threat has not vanished yet. As Dr. Snow ones stated, “until safe water and food is available to all humans, it is likely that cholera outbreaks will continue to happen. ” While developing African countries like Zimbabwe and Malawi lack efficient sanitation and hygiene promotion, they are the main region of cholera outbreaks. “Universal access to safe water and sanitation” is considered as the ultimate solution but “the development of such infrastructure may take years at the current pace” (M’bangombe et al. , 2018, p. 428). Although civil engineering solutions are desirable in developing countries, most of them are currently unaffordable, so those communities that are at high risk may consider a potentially useful alternative – “lower-cost flexible,decentralized water and wastewater treatment” (Davies et al. , 2017, p. S71). The option may help developing countries to fight the disease locally while implementing a centralized sanitation system and hygiene practices.
Another approach of fighting cholera is by its prevention – vaccines may be beneficial “in outbreaks if they are detected soon enough and the vaccine can be effectively deployed” (Davies et al. , 2017, p. S71). To fight cholera, communities have to implement both short-term and long-term approaches, and oral cholera vaccine is not only a relatively quick way of treating the disease but is also globally available nowadays. There are several ways of household water treatment, the most efficient of them being filtration, solar disinfection, and chlorination (either with or without safe storage vessels) (Taylor et al. , 2015). While often forgotten as one of the crucial practices of cholera prevention, hand washing with soap and overall hygiene promotion dramatically decreases the number of disease cases.
Conclusion
Summing up, cholera is a deadly disease that poses a significant threat to the world community, and developing countries are at the highest risk since not having enough means of safe sanitation. The central goal in fighting cholera is providing for safe food and water as those are the main ways of the disease spread. However, although well-developed sanitation is crucial for the elimination of cholera, humanity should keep in mind that vaccination and hygiene are efficient supplements of disease control.
References
Davies, H. G. , Bowman, C. , & Luby, S. P. (2017). Cholera – management and prevention. Journal of Infection, 74, S66–S73.
M’bangombe, M. , Pezzoli, L. , Reeder, B. , Kabuluzi, S. , Msyamboza, K. , Masuku, H. , Azman, A. S. (2018). Oral cholera vaccine in cholera prevention and control, Malawi. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 96(6), 428–435.
Taylor, D. L. , Kahawita, T. M. , Cairncross, S. , & Ensink, J. H. J. (2015). The impact of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions to control cholera: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135676. doi:10. 1371/journal. pone. 0135676