http://www.medindia.net/healthnews/Cholera-news.asp Medindia largest health website in india. en-us Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Fri, 25 May 2012 04:58:53 GMT http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-ghana-99731-1.htm Cholera epidemic kills at least 11 people in Ghana's capital Accra, reports source. Edward Antwi, deputy regional director of public health confirmed the toll. Poor sanitation in the city has been blamed for the outbreak. Most homes in Ghana are without toilet facilities while the few that were previously available have been converted into rooms, shops and stores for rentals. Authorities have cautioned residents to be aware of the food and water they consume. Officials of the ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-ghana-99731-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/prevent-new-cholera-outbreak-unicef-warns-west-africa-98494-1.htm The United Nations Children's Fund on Tuesday alerted western African governments on the need to prevent a new cholera outbreak, after the disease claimed nearly 3,000 lives there last year. Unicef's regional bureau said that "at least 105,248 cases of cholera were registered in 17 countries in 2011, and 2,898 people died" in what was one of the most severe outbreaks of the disease in years. "The region is now in the inter-season which means that the number of cases is close to zero in most affected countries," it said....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/prevent-new-cholera-outbreak-unicef-warns-west-africa-98494-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-insight-into-cholera-bacterium-96790-1.htm The mechanism that cholera bacterium uses to gain foothold in the gut has been discovered by scientists. The discovery could help scientists developed new treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease, which kills more than 100,000 people every year. The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is able to colonise the intestine usually after consumption of contaminated water or food. Once infection is established, the bacterium secretes a toxin that ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-insight-into-cholera-bacterium-96790-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/un-reports-spike-in-cholera-cases-in-dr-congo-96700-1.htm The UN reports surge in cholera cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks. The year-long outbreak has so far infected 22,000 people and has claimed 584 lives. Aid agencies have been trying to halt the spread of the water-borne disease that has ravaged eight of the country's 11 provinces since January 2011. "There has been a spike in cases" since mid-December, with figures on the rise in the capital Kinshasa in particular, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/un-reports-spike-in-cholera-cases-in-dr-congo-96700-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Social-Media-Accurately-Tracked-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-95914-1.htm Internet-based news and Twitter feeds more rapidly tracked the onset and progression of the cholera epidemic in post-earthquake Haiti than traditional methods, shows study published in the January issue of the iAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene/i. The study is the first to demonstrate the use of data from "informal" media sources in monitoring an outbreak of a neglected tropical disease in a resource-limited setting, and shows that these sources can yield reliable decision-making ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Social-Media-Accurately-Tracked-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-95914-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Death-Toll-From-Cholera-Nears-7000-in-Haiti-95774-1.htm The death toll from cholera epidemic in Haiti is nearing 7,000, which experts claim to be one of the worst in recent decades. Jon Kim Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization, said that as of December, on top of the deaths, the Haitian government had reported more than 520,000 cholera cases with 200 new sufferers appearing each day. Andrus said it was "one of the largest cholera outbreaks in modern history to affect a single country." There are also 21,000 cases ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Death-Toll-From-Cholera-Nears-7000-in-Haiti-95774-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Somalia-Launches-Campaign-To-Tackle-Cholera-94895-1.htm Somalian health authorities on Friday launched a campaign to curb cholera spread that has infected about 60,000 in the country since the start of the year, reports WHO. The health ministry launched the initiative in the capital Mogadishu which aims to educate at least one person in every household on preventing the disease and what to do when symptoms occur. The WHO's Horn of Africa team said there had been 60,000 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in south-central Somalia ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Somalia-Launches-Campaign-To-Tackle-Cholera-94895-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/55-Million-Needed-to-Battle-Cholera-93593-1.htm To battle cholera in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations urgently need (Dollor) 5.5 million (4.1 million euros), says UN spokeswoman. Agencies estimate that (Dollor) 3 million is required for water and sanitation and (Dollor) 2.5 million for medical care in the four provinces along the Congo river. "This (Dollor) 5.5 million is really urgently needed because the rainy season is set to begin," said Elisabeth Byrs from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Cholera is rife ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/55-Million-Needed-to-Battle-Cholera-93593-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Victims-Demand-UN-Compensation-Haiti-93156-1.htm UN peacekeepers are accused of an epidemic leaving five thousand cholera victims in Haiti launching legal action demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the United Nations, lawyers said Tuesday. The epidemic has killed 6,600 people and infected about 475,000 since it erupted one year ago. Several studies have indicated the cholera was introduced by Nepalese peacekeepers and lawyers acting for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti have filed a legal claim demanding ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Victims-Demand-UN-Compensation-Haiti-93156-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-500000-Haiti-Cholera-Cases-Expected-by-Year-End-92308-1.htm In Haiti, the number of cholera cases is expected to reach 500,000 by the end of the year, says World Health Organization. "If current trends continue, we can expect around 75,000 more cases by the end of the year bringing the total to approximately 500,000 cases since the beginning of the epidemic," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. In October, the WHO had already recorded 470,000 cases. The cholera epidemic broke out in 2010 when the disease has killed 6,600 people. The ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-500000-Haiti-Cholera-Cases-Expected-by-Year-End-92308-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Vaccine-Testing-92218-1.htm A cholera vaccine will be tested in Haiti, report officials. Over a hundred people from a Port-au-Prince shantytown and a rural area in the center of the country, where the disease was first identified in 2010, will be given the vaccine. "The Shanchol vaccine will be administered orally to the patients in two doses at six-month intervals. It has been approved by the World Health Organization but it won't replace better informing the public," health ministry director general Gabriel Timothe told AFP....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Vaccine-Testing-92218-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-Looms-Large-in-West-Central-Africa-91839-1.htm The UN children's agency warned Tuesday about one of the worst cholera epidemics looming large in the west and central Africa region, with over 85,000 cases reported leading to 2,466 deaths this year. "The size and scale of the outbreaks means the region is facing one of the biggest epidemics in its history," said a UNICEF spokeswoman. "The most significant increases in 2011 are in Chad, where it is the largest outbreak recorded, in Cameroon where nine out of 10 districts are reporting cases ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-Looms-Large-in-West-Central-Africa-91839-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Badly-Hit-by-Cholera-91694-1.htm A cholera epidemic in the Central African Republic has claimed 16 victims, a health ministry spokesman said Saturday, as another source said it had reached the capital. "The latest reports give 57 cases and 16 deaths," Modeste Hoza said, calling on residents to take precautions against transmission of the disease and not be afraid. A hospital official in Bangui said four cases had been declared in the capital and the Red Cross had intervened. Health Minister Jean-Michel Mandaba said ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Badly-Hit-by-Cholera-91694-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Hit-By-New-Cholera-Epidemic-91356-1.htm At least 10 people belonging to the Central African Republic has succumbed to a new cholera epidemic, according to the health minister Jean-Michel Mandaba. His comments came the day after a health services source sounded the alarm that cholera had killed six people in the Limbo region, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital Bangui. "The government of the Central African Republic would like to officially declare that there is a cholera epidemic in the (southern) health zones of Ombella-Mpoko ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Hit-By-New-Cholera-Epidemic-91356-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Fresh-Cholera-Outbreak-Kills-Six-in-Nigeria-91031-1.htm A fresh cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed at least six people, raising the overall toll in the country to more than over 200 in recent months, officials said Friday. The latest outbreak was recorded in the Kebbi state town of Koko where at least 182 cholera cases were recorded in the past two weeks, the state's health commissioner Shehu Sambawa said. "We have recorded six deaths from cholera in Koko in the past two weeks that infected 182 people," Sambawa said. Around 70 ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Fresh-Cholera-Outbreak-Kills-Six-in-Nigeria-91031-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Red-Cross-Says-Cholera-Deaths-in-Chad-Could-Double-90277-1.htm Without a response the number of people in Chad infected with cholera could double to 25,000 people from the 12,713 cases recorded so far this year, the Red Cross has warned. "The risk of a wider and more serious outbreak is very real," the International Federation of the Red Cross said in a press statement. "With the peak of the rainy season coming (in September and October), it is feared that the number of cholera cases will double ... and could reach up to 20,000 to 25,000 cases," the Red Cross explained....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Red-Cross-Says-Cholera-Deaths-in-Chad-Could-Double-90277-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/35-in-Northern-Nigeria-Succumb-to-Cholera-89903-1.htm Cholera has killed 35 people in two northern Nigerian states in recent days, officials said Tuesday, with outbreaks frequent in the country during the rainy season. "We have recorded 33 deaths from a cholera outbreak which infected 690 people in six (districts) in the last four days," said Fatsuma Talba, Yobe state health commissioner. She said health personnel and drugs were being dispatched to the affected areas. In Sokoto state, two deaths and 70 infections were recorded over the ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/35-in-Northern-Nigeria-Succumb-to-Cholera-89903-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Pandemic-Traced-to-a-Bacterial-Strain-in-Bangladesh-89642-1.htm Scientists have traced the root of a cholera pandemic that has swept poor countries in three waves over nearly four decades - a bacterial strain that first emerged in Bangladesh. The current pandemic is the seventh since cholera, a water- and food-borne diarrhoeal disease caused by the Vibrio cholerae bug, emerged nearly two centuries ago. Gene sequencing of 154 samples of V. cholerae taken from patients around the world show today's pandemic can be traced to an initial outbreak of cholera ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Pandemic-Traced-to-a-Bacterial-Strain-in-Bangladesh-89642-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-in-Somalia-may-Spread-UN-89057-1.htm Cholera epidemic in Somalia could quickly spread as thousands flee famine in the south, warns UN. "The concern here is the root cases of cholera, and that is related to water and sanitation. And with the IDPs and population movement, this increases the risk of further spread of the disease, and that is our fear," Michel Yao, a public health advisor at the UN health agency, told reporters. "With cholera, everyone is at risk, but the conditions are perfect for transmission now in Mogadishu," ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-in-Somalia-may-Spread-UN-89057-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/River-Flow-Associated-With-Cholera-Outbreaks-88683-1.htm The increased nutrient-rich and powerful river discharge contributes to outbreaks of cholera and not just global warming, shows study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. /IThe findings by the authors will help give public health authorities another critical clue toward predicting future outbreaks of cholera based on climatic and environmental models in the hopes of preventing the spread of the deadly and highly infectious disease that currently plagues Haiti and several other countries....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/River-Flow-Associated-With-Cholera-Outbreaks-88683-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/People-in-Congo-Ignore-Cholera-Warnings-88371-1.htm People in DRCongo still drinking river water despite the warnings about cholera. "I drink the water from the river, why not?" Fils Keto said defiantly. "Water's water!" On the banks of the Congo river in Kinshasa, old habits are proving hard to break despite an outbreak of cholera that has already claimed 279 lives. Keto, a man in his 30s dressed sharply in jeans and white tee-shirt, was not bothered -- though he had no idea how the disease was caught. In any case, said Keto, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/People-in-Congo-Ignore-Cholera-Warnings-88371-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Reports-Surge-in-Cholera-Cases-in-Haiti-86850-1.htm Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince reports spike in cholera cases as more than 18,000 new cases have been recorded since May, according to World Health Organisation. The bacterial infection has already killed 5,397 people in the troubled nation. The outbreak started not long after a January 2010 earthquake devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands. "Since May 2011, there has been an increase in cholera cases in some areas in Haiti especially around Port-au-Prince and the Southern ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Reports-Surge-in-Cholera-Cases-in-Haiti-86850-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Predict-Cholera-Outbreaks-With-Weather-Forecasts-85804-1.htm Scientists are closing in on a forecast model that may soon be able to predict future cholera outbreaks based on increases in temperature and rainfall, according to a study published Tuesday. An analysis of several years of past data in cholera-prone parts of Zanzibar, Tanzania, showed that when temperatures rose one degree Celsius, cholera cases were likely to double within four months, said scientists at the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, South Korea. A small increase in rainfall (200-milliliter or 6....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Predict-Cholera-Outbreaks-With-Weather-Forecasts-85804-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Republic-Cholera-Toll-Rises-to-23-85580-1.htm In Dominican Republic at least 23 people have died of cholera, and 1,288 have been infected following an outbreak in neighboring Haiti last year, say officials. The health ministry released the new toll on Thursday, saying that in the last three weeks alone the number of dead has nearly doubled from 13 and the number of infections has risen by more than 400. The government said it had installed two new laboratories for detecting the disease, but Health Minister Bautista Rojas said he ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Republic-Cholera-Toll-Rises-to-23-85580-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-Linked-to-SAsian-Strain-84589-1.htm The Haiti cholera outbreak that has claimed the lives of more than 4,850 people bears similarity to a South Asian strain of the disease, says US panel. A panel of international health experts on Wednesday said the source of epidemic was "debatable" but that the United Nations "worldwide" must change the way it handles peacekeepers' health. The experts said the evidence "overwhelmingly supports" the conclusion that the Haiti epidemic was due to the contamination of a river near the Nepalese ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-Linked-to-SAsian-Strain-84589-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Outbreak-in-Cameroon-84141-1.htm Cameroon in West Africa is seeing an outbreak of cholera that has infected 3,000 people and has claimed 150 casualties already. Plan International, a charity organization, has warned that many more hundreds would die daily, if aid did not come soon to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Mfoundi, the worst affected district, has reported 500 new cases and 46 deaths in one week, and the capital Yaounde has more than 1,500 sick people. Baro Famari, the country's director for Plan International, said ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Outbreak-in-Cameroon-84141-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Raises-Its-Ugly-Head-in-Haiti-84043-1.htm The cholera epidemic which claimed the lives of thousands of people in Haiti has resurfaced in the rural areas of the country. "Residual outbreaks" have appeared in the north, the central plateau, and the southeast, "but they do not constitute a spike in the disease," the country's public health general director Gabriel Timothe told AFP late Tuesday. He said authorities were addressing the outbreaks in the various regions, and insisted "the trend is decreasing." Haiti has suffered a ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Raises-Its-Ugly-Head-in-Haiti-84043-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Researchers-Find-That-Haitian-Cholera-Epidemic-Could-Have-Been-Blunted-With-Mobile-Stockpile-of-Oral-Vaccine-83562-1.htm Had a large stockpile of oral cholera vaccine been available and deployed to inoculate the majority of Haitians most at risk after the outbreak following last year''s earthquake, the illness and death from the cholera epidemic could have been reduced by about half, according to new research. The findings, by Ira Longini, Ph.D., and colleagues in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, are published in the April 11, 2011 early edition of the IProceedings ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Researchers-Find-That-Haitian-Cholera-Epidemic-Could-Have-Been-Blunted-With-Mobile-Stockpile-of-Oral-Vaccine-83562-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/South-Chad-Epidemic-of-Meningitis-Measles-Cholera-83304-1.htm An epidemic of meningitis, measles and cholera recorded in South Chad, reports the International Federation of Red Cross. Since March 18, about 109 people have died and 2,300 cases of meningococcal meningitis recorded, "affecting half the districts in Chad at an alarming rate", the IFRC said in a statement. "This epidemic is accompanied by cases of measles which have appeared in almost the same region." The IFRC said the situation was further exacerbated in the impoverished Bongor region, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/South-Chad-Epidemic-of-Meningitis-Measles-Cholera-83304-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/60pct-of-Cholera-Cases-Can-Be-Averted-With-Oral-Vaccine-82423-1.htm A new study has found that oral vaccines could prevent up to 60 percent of cholera cases in the first two years after vaccination. The vaccines have been shown to provide protection within one month of vaccination, but data from studies of older versions of the vaccines suggest that protection is unlikely to last more than three years, said David Sinclair, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, and colleagues at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/60pct-of-Cholera-Cases-Can-Be-Averted-With-Oral-Vaccine-82423-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Could-Affect-800000-Haitians-This-Year-US-Study-82373-1.htm Up to 800,000 Haitians will contract cholera this year, double the estimates of UN agencies, a report published by The Lancet on Wednesday claimed. A US team led by Jason Andrews from Harvard School of Public Health also found that a recent dip in reported cases was likely a temporary phase of the epidemic and not related to the intervention efforts. "Although worldwide estimates of the epidemic at present are based on the assumption that the epidemic will attack four percent of the population, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Could-Affect-800000-Haitians-This-Year-US-Study-82373-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Bangladesh-Launches-Massive-Cholera-Vaccine-Trial-80984-1.htm Bangladesh holds world's largest trial of an oral cholera vaccine. This vaccination program could save thousands of lives every year, health officials said. The World Health Organization estimates that up to five million people worldwide contract cholera each year, with 120,000 of them dying as a result. And while oral vaccines have long been available, they are considered too expensive to employ on a wide scale, according to health authorities. The study involves 240,000 people from ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Bangladesh-Launches-Massive-Cholera-Vaccine-Trial-80984-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Simple-Test-for-Cholera-Detection-80662-1.htm Scientists have described a key advance toward a faster, simple and better test for detecting cholera. Cholera affects more than 200,000 people and causing about 5,000 deaths annually. Cholera affected cases mostly involve infants, children and elderly. J. Manuel Perez and colleagues note that cholera is an intestinal infection from food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It produces a toxin that can cause severe diarrhea, which can lead to rapid dehydration and death....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Simple-Test-for-Cholera-Detection-80662-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/135-Being-Treated-for-Cholera-in-Venezuela-80243-1.htm Around 135 people have been treated for cholera in Venezuela after they were infected at a wedding in the Dominican Republic, officials have confirmed. "At the moment we have not had a single case of someone being contaminated in Venezuela," Health Minister Eugenia Sader told Globovision. Authorities have said those being treated were part of a group of 452 Venezuelans who traveled to the Dominican Republic for a wedding earlier this month, and Sader said the government has been calling them "one by one....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/135-Being-Treated-for-Cholera-in-Venezuela-80243-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Hillary-Clinton-Visit-to-Haiti-Cholera-Clinic--80174-1.htm US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her tour to a cholera clinic on Sunday hailed the news that the wave of cholera is receding. "I want to first of all express my great appreciation and admiration for everyone working to stem and then reverse the cholera epidemic," Clinton said in baking heat outside the tent-like structure. She reiterated the US commitment to Haitians' health needs "and other needs that are present and in many ways exacerbated by the continuing efforts at reconstruction ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Hillary-Clinton-Visit-to-Haiti-Cholera-Clinic--80174-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Vaccines-can-Help-Even-After-an-Outbreak-Starts-Studies-80053-1.htm Fifty years since the most recent strain surfaced, two studies suggest that vaccines can help even after an outbreak starts, though cholera today is more resilient than previous types. One of the studies in this week's Public Library of Science (PLoS) Neglected Tropical Diseases journal analyzed data from Zimbabwe, India and Tanzania to see how many cases could have been preventable under differing response times, vaccine dosage and coverage area. In Zimbabwe, where a cholera outbreak began ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Vaccines-can-Help-Even-After-an-Outbreak-Starts-Studies-80053-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Wedding-Leaves-Venezuelans-Battling-Cholera-80008-1.htm Officials have confirmed that more than 20 Venezuelans returned from a wedding last weekend in the Dominican Republic with cholera-like symptoms and are being quarantined at clinics in Caracas. "It has been confirmed that they were infected in the Dominican Republic," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said as he sought to reassure his nation that there was little to no risk of the disease spreading. Although doctors had already confirmed that some of the 21 Venezuelans quarantined had cholera, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Wedding-Leaves-Venezuelans-Battling-Cholera-80008-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/First-Cholera-Death-Reported-from-Dominican-Republic-79859-1.htm The first death from a cholera outbreak that had spread from neighboring Haiti has been reported by officials in the Dominican Republic. Health officials were quoted as saying the victim had been in Haiti and lived in the Dominican city of Higuey. A health ministry statement said Renauld Francois, 53, died Thursday, and that an autopsy would be performed to learn the exact cause of death but that his symptoms were "consistent with the disease." The Dominican Republic has reported 152 ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/First-Cholera-Death-Reported-from-Dominican-Republic-79859-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/New-Technique-to-Detect-Cholera-Could-Save-Thousands-79748-1.htm Scientists at the University of Central Florida have developed a a new tool to fight cholera, a disease that has claimed thousands of lives in Haiti since the devastating earthquake last year, a mixture of sugar. The technique would allow relief workers to test water sources that could be contaminated with the cholera toxin. In the test, the sugar dextran is coated onto iron oxide nanoparticles and then added to a sample of the water. If the cholera toxin is present, the toxin will bind to the nanoparticles' dextran....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/New-Technique-to-Detect-Cholera-Could-Save-Thousands-79748-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Antibiotics-may-be-Beneficial-in-Moderate-Cholera-79430-1.htm Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused due to intake of food or water contaminated with a bacterium called bVibrio cholerae./b It spreads as epidemics in places of bpoor sanitation and overcrowding./b It causes bwatery diarrhea,/b which could be severe and lead to dehydration and death if not treated. bThe WHO recommends oral rehydration solution as the first line of treatment in cholera./b ORS helps to prevent and treat the dehydration and reduce the chances of death in patients with cholera....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Antibiotics-may-be-Beneficial-in-Moderate-Cholera-79430-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Says-Haitis-Cholera-Outbreak-Has-Not-Peaked-79320-1.htm Haiti cholera outbreak that has claimed 3,651 lives has not peaked, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday. "We think that the peak has not been reached," said Fadela Chaib, WHO spokeswoman, of the deadly disease that has also infected 171,304 people. "The peak has not been reached because it would require the mortality rate to drop to less than one percent from 2.2 percent at the moment. That would take several weeks," she said. "There will be certainly many more cases of cholera in Haiti, it's certain....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Says-Haitis-Cholera-Outbreak-Has-Not-Peaked-79320-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/UN-Says-Response-to-Haiti-Cholera-Fund-Shameful-79139-1.htm The response to an appeal to counter the deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti has been blasted as "shameful" after the world body received only a quarter of the funding it needs. "Out of the 174 million dollars (131 million euros), the UN has only received 44 million or 25 percent of the funds we asked for, although (the situation) is of the utmost urgency," the spokeswoman for the UN Organisation for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Elisabeth Byrs, told AFP. "It's not moving....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/UN-Says-Response-to-Haiti-Cholera-Fund-Shameful-79139-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Reached-2761-Mark-78742-1.htm Death toll from Haiti cholera outbreak has risen to 2,761 mark and the water-borne disease continues to have firm grip on the quake-hit Caribbean nation, official figures showed Wednesday. At least 60 people were shown to have died on four of the previous five days recorded by the health ministry, between December 14 and December 17. This level has not been seen since deaths peaked in mid-November. The number of infections has soared above 130,000 as Haiti's first cholera outbreak in more ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Reached-2761-Mark-78742-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/First-Cholera-Fatality-Reported-in-Dominican-Republic-78614-1.htm Dominican Republic health authorities investigated a possible first fatality from a cholera outbreak that is increasingly affecting many in the country. Twenty-three new infections brought the total to 105 in Haiti's more developed neighbor, Health Minister Bautista Rojas said, adding that the suspect death was an unnamed individual in the south of the country. "We had unprecedented growth (of the disease) in the southern provinces of San Juan and Azua," Rojas told reporters. Among the victims, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/First-Cholera-Fatality-Reported-in-Dominican-Republic-78614-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Crosses-2500-Mark-78263-1.htm Death toll from Haiti cholera outbreak has passed 2,500, reported by health ministry on Sunday. The health ministry listed 2,535 deaths since the outbreak in the impoverished Caribbean nation erupted in mid-October. Almost 57,000 of the 114,497 people infected have been treated in hospital. Ministry hopes that the fatality rate might come down. Hopes rose last week that the death rate could be slowing as less than 30 people were shown to have died on two consecutive days. Those hopes ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Crosses-2500-Mark-78263-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/NICED-Successfully-Completes-Oral-Cholera-Vaccine-Trial-78193-1.htm The National Institute for Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) has successfully completed the trial of an Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) here on Saturday. In 2006, the NICED reformulated the composition of a particular double dose OCV, which was produced in Sweden and later in Vietnam. The Oral Cholera Vaccine named Shanchol has been approved in India, based on the results of a trial on 110,000 human subjects conducted in Kolkata by the NICED. The Kolkata trials found ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/NICED-Successfully-Completes-Oral-Cholera-Vaccine-Trial-78193-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Crosses-2400-Mark-78076-1.htm Haiti's cholera death toll has surpassed more than 2,400 lives, reported by Haiti health officials on Wednesday. The health ministry in its latest figures listed 2,405 deaths since the infections began in the impoverished nation in mid-October. More than 54,500 people have been treated in hospital, out of a total of 109,196 cases. Last Friday the toll had reached 2,193, after a series of tolls of 27 and 26 deaths per day suggested that the waterborne disease could be relinquishing its grip on the quake-hit nation....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Toll-Crosses-2400-Mark-78076-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Strikes-Down-32-in-Dominican-Republic-78011-1.htm Cholera has laid low 32 persons in the Dominican Republic but with no fatalities, announced news reports. Health officials have introduced new measures to slow the advance of the cholera epidemic from neighboring Haiti, which is suffering a much more severe outbreak of the potentially lethal disease. President Leonel Fernandez this week was to receive a visit from Haitian President Rene Preval for talks on coordinating anti-cholera efforts across the whole of Hispaniola, the Caribbean island shared by the two countries....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Strikes-Down-32-in-Dominican-Republic-78011-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Finds-New-Clinical-Strains-of-Cholera-78005-1.htm A recent study has discovered new clinical strains of cholera, with a completely different mechanism to trigger the same disease. Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent for the diarrheal disease cholera. While there are more than 200 different serogroups only the O1 and the O139 strains have been known to cause epidemic and pandemic outbreaks of disease, using a toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) and cholera toxin (CT), which other strains lack. "While non-O1, non-O139 strains have caused ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Finds-New-Clinical-Strains-of-Cholera-78005-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/UN-Camp-Cause-of-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-77802-1.htm UN peacekeepers from Nepal brought in Haiti's devastating cholera outbreak, according to an expert report submitted to the French foreign ministry. Respected French epidemiologist Professor Renaud Piarroux conducted a study in Haiti last month and concluded the epidemic began with an imported strain of the disease that could be traced back to the Nepalese base, the official said. "The source of the infection came from the Nepalese camp," the source told AFP, speaking on condition on anonymity ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/UN-Camp-Cause-of-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-77802-1.htm