Cholera is an acute disease caused by small intestine infection with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. V. cholerae is a highly motile gram-negative comma-shaped bacterium. It can be transmitted to humans upon ingesting contaminated water and/or food with it. There are hundreds of serogroups of V. cholerae, but only two of them can produce cholera toxin, which cause a severe life-threatening cholera disease: O1 and O139. Those two have led to several outbreaks throughout history. Cholera is characterized by acute watery diarrhoea mainly, and may cause severe dehydration, which may end up in serious cases with death in few hours if not treated properly. According to statistics, 92649 suspected were reported in Syria by 15 February 2023, with a 0.11% fatality rate. During the Syrian crisis and the recent devastating earthquake, many facilities have been destroyed. Thus, there is an insistent need to restore the water and sanitation plants and healthcare facilities, and plan awareness raising and vaccination campaigns to efficiently counter the current and future outbreaks. This review focuses on cholera`s history, previous pandemics, current outbreak in Syria, transmission, symptoms, diagnosis methods, treatment and prevention.
European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research.
2023.
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