Vibrio cholerae appearance
- Gram-negative, curved rods
- motile (polar flagellum)
- non-spore-forming
Infections caused by Vibrio cholerae
Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. An estimated 3-5 million cases and over 100,000 deaths occur each year around the world. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe. Approximately one in 10 (5-10%) infected persons will have severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps.
In these people, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.
The cholera bacterium is usually found in water or food sources that have been contaminated by feces (poop) from a person infected with cholera. Cholera is most likely to be found and spread in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.
The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the U.S. have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico (CDC).
During infection, V. cholerae secretes cholera toxin, a protein that causes profuse, watery diarrhea. Colonization of the small intestine also requires the toxin coregulated pilus (TCP), a thin, flexible, filamentous appendage on the surface of bacterial cells. Vibrio cholerae can cause syndromes ranging from asymptomatic to cholera gravis. In endemic areas, 75% of cases are asymptomatic, 20% are mild to moderate, and 2-5% are severe forms like cholera gravis. Symptoms
include abrupt onset of watery diarrhea (a grey and cloudy liquid), occasional vomiting and abdominal cramps (Wikipedia).
Vibrio cholerae treatment
Cholera can be simply and successfully treated by immediate replacement of the fluid and salts lost through diarrhea. Patients can be treated with oral rehydration solution, a prepackaged mixture of sugar and salts to be mixed with water and drunk in large amounts. This solution is used throughout the world to treat diarrhea. Severe cases also require intravenous fluid replacement. With prompt rehydration, fewer than 1% of cholera patients die. Antibiotics shorten the course and diminish the severity of the illness, but they are not as important as receiving rehydration (CDC).- tetracycline
- doxycycline
- furazolidone
- trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
- erythromycin
- chloramphenicol
- ciprofloxacin
- norfloxacin
Vibrio cholerae vaccination
Links:
CDC
Wikipedia
Colony appearance
