Cholera is one of the well-known communicable diseases. The disease is infectious and causes diarrhoea that is watery and leads to dehydration, and if not treated immediately it leads to death. The condition is caused by a bacteria called Vibrio Cholerae that is present in food and water that has been contaminated by faeces from an individual with the infection. When an individual consumes food or water with the bacteria, it releases toxins that cause diarrhoea; thus, the mode of transmission. Cholerae has an incubation period of a few hours of infection to at most five days after infection. Some of the symptoms include dehydration, vomiting and severe diarrhoea that is watery. The signs and symptoms of dehydration include an increased heart rate, thirst and often muscle cramps. Cholerae can be treated and prevented. Using boiled water is one of the preventive mechanism. The water can equally be treated chemically. Another way of avoiding the disease is through avoiding eating of raw food such as vegetables that have not been peeled or unpasteurized milk and its products (Silva and Benitez, 2016). Typically, dehydration is what causes death from cholera. Thus most treatments involve the provision of oral hydration solutions (OHS) to the patients. The main complication in cholera is the existence of vaccines which cannot help a larger population. That is because the vaccine can only last for a few months.
Cholera can affect any individual depending on the level of hygiene maintained. However, according to the world health organisation (WHO), cholera mostly affects children under the age of five years. One cholera most terrific incidence took place in 2015 where 172,454 individuals were reported to have cholera, and 1,304 lives were lost as per the world health organisation. The outbreak rooted itself in several other countries. In general, 41% of the cholera cases were from Africa, 37% came from Asia and Americans constituted for the remaining 21%. Another incident took place in 2012 when nearly 1.4 to 4.3 million individuals worldwide were affected and resulted in the death of approximately 28,000 to 142, 000 people. WHO estimates the prevalence of cholera to be 3 to 5 million cases yearly (Ali et al., 2015)? Equally, only 5 to 10% represents the number of reported cases. Out of the estimated causes nearly 100,000 to 120, 000 death cases take place. The center for disease control (CDC) stipulates that the mortality rate of cholera is at 3.7% for the inpatients and 0.14% for all the patients infected with cholera. They equally suggest that the morbidity of the diseases as 2 to 3 million cases with a death rate of less than 100,000. Out of 20 individuals, one is likely to be infected with cholerae.
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Biological and genetic factors are one of the health determinants affecting cholera. In particular, age is a critical factor. Children under the age of five years old are more likely to be infected with the disease than older people. That is because small children under the age of five years tend to put everything they find in the mouth including soil which may be having faeces carrying the Vibrio cholerae. An individual's behaviour is another factor ("Determinants of Health –Healthy People 2020, "2019). They include hand washing and the diet of the person. If one does not tend washing his or her hands after visiting the toilet they the individual is at a higher risk of being affected by cholera. Equally the diet of the individual should not consist of raw food. An individual died with raw food such as unpeeled fruits and vegetables, and even unpasteurized milk will likely contract the disease. Access to health service is another critical factor. Most individuals die of cholera due to the high cost of treatment, inaccessibility of the healthcare, and lack of insurance cover to cater for their medical expenses.
The epidemiology triad of cholera consists of the host, agent and environmental factors. The host of cholera is human beings. When they consume raw food and unclean water, they ingest the Vibrio cholerae organism that causes cholera. Then they pass the bacteria through their stool. When they do not dispose of the faeces in the appropriate place, it can be washed away by rainwater to a river stream or lake. Thus the water acts as the agent that leads to the transmission. Rain, on the other hand, serves as the environmental factor. Another individual will go to the stream and lake to fetch water for drinking and cooking (Ali et al., 2015). If the water is used without boiling or treatment, then the individual will consume the bacteria, and the cycle continues. Other environmental risk factors include unavailability of safe water for drinking and cooking and poor waste management and sanitation. Equally, humans can also act as agents of transmission of cholera. For instance, a mother may change the napping of a baby who is infected and fails to wash the hands after finishing and proceeds to eat. Then she may end up getting infected with cholera.
Public health nurse plays a crucial role concerning the disease — one of the task in sensitisation. A healthcare nurse should pass information to the patients on ways in which one can get infected with cholera and how it can be prevented. The data will be relevant particularly to mothers with small children who come to the healthcare facility to seek medication as the children are the ones who are at a higher risk. Another role is to ensure proper sanitation among the inpatients. Hygiene is the primary way of preventing cholera. Thus a healthcare nurse should there is cleanliness among the inpatients from the food they consume to the water they drink as a preventive mechanism. Healthcare nurse is involved in the finding, reporting, collection, and analysis of data and making follow-ups on cholera. They are engaged through finding instances of cholera among their patients, they, later on, report or inform the doctor on the issue for diagnosis to be done. Later on, they have the mandate of collecting and gathering information on the possible cause of the cholera cause by asking the patient-relevant questions (Silva, and Benitez, 2016). They equally take a step ahead in collecting samples of water used by the patient, the food consumed and take them to the laboratory for further analysis. Healthcare nurses are then involved in the study of the water samples collected from various sources and food consumed by determining the presence of bacteria and the prevalence to take necessary measures. All the individuals who might have consumed water from the same source or the same food are quarantined for father analysis to prevent spreading. Later on, a follow up is made on the preventive measures give to the patient. The nurse will follow up on the patient to seek whether they use boiled or treated water an even have proper sanitation and recommended by the doctor.
References
Ali, M., Nelson, A. R., Lopez, A. L., & Sack, D. A. (2015). Updated global burden of cholera in endemic countries. PLoS neglected tropical diseases , 9 (6), e0003832. Retrieved from
Determinants of Health –Healthy People 2020. (2019). Retrieved from
https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0003832
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Determinants-of- Health
Silva, A. J., & Benitez, J. A. (2016). Vibrio cholerae biofilms and cholera pathogenesis. PLoS neglected tropical diseases , 10 (2), e0004330. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004330
