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Cholera: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention

Treatment for Cholera

If you are experiencing symptoms of cholera, you should immediately see you doctor. Your doctor would be able to confirm that you have cholera by identifying the bacteria in your stool sample. The first most recommended approach to treating cholera is rehydration. It usually comes with ORS (oral rehydration salt) fluids as the primary treatment option. The main components of ORS fluids are glucose and electrolytes, and they can be gotten in any pharmacy store worldwide.

However, it is important that your doctor prescribes the ORS according to WHO’s (world health organization) recommendation. If the condition is severe, the patient would most likely to be administered to the hospital. The doctor would need to keep close watch on the patient in order to monitor his condition. According to the WHO recommendation, the doctor would need to;

  • Reassess the patient within everyone to three hours and continue hydrating. If there is no improvements, the doctor might need to administer IV drip more rapidly. About 200ml/kg or more may be required during the first day of treatment.
  • If there is an improvement in the condition of a child after six hours ot of an adult with three hours, you can switch to ORS solution.

Generally, if there is an infection, you might need to take antibiotics. They help speed up the recovery. It is important to know that not just any antibiotic can work, it would be best to have your doctor prescribe the special antibiotics for your condition. Meanwhile, severe infections have been effectively treated with antibiotics like;

  • Doxycycline (Vibramycin, Oracea, Atridox, Adoxa, and others)
  • Tetracycline (Sumycin)
  • Furazolidone (Furoxone)
  • Ampicilin
  • Norfloxacin
  • Ciprofloxacin (Cipro, Cipro XR, ProQuine XR)
  • Azithromycin (Zithromax)

Even though these are all good antibiotics, it is still important that you get a prescription from your doctor. Antibiotic susceptibility testing is advised to know the appropriate drug to use. Also, quinolones antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin should not be used on children, if other antibiotics can be effective because of possible musculoskeletal adverse effects.