SAY ni DOK | Ano ang sanhi, sintomas at gamut ng Cholera?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Every year, there are 1.3 million to 4 million people in the world who have cholera.
00:08 21,000 to 143,000 people die here.
00:13 Because of this, it remains a global threat to the public's health.
00:18 And it is also an indication of the lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation,
00:24 especially in poor and remote areas.
00:27 Cholera is an infection that is a sign of eating or drinking something contaminated with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae.
00:36 It can be a sign of severe watery diarrhea and severe dehydration
00:41 that if not taken early, can be a sign of death.
00:46 Just this year, in 2017, a global strategy on cholera control was launched,
00:52 Ending Cholera, a Global Roadmap to 2030.
00:55 And it has a goal to reduce the number of deaths by 90% due to this infection.
01:01 That's why we have a free telemedicine about cholera, here in CENIDOC.
01:07 And to give us a free telemedicine about cholera, we will now have Dr. Villa Roderos Galvan, a general physician.
01:17 Good morning, Doc Villa.
01:18 Welcome back, Doc.
01:19 Good morning, Ms. Neji, Sir Audrey, and to all our viewers and to all of our listeners.
01:25 Okay. Doc, cholera is a bacteria, right?
01:29 How does this bacteria get to us? Where does it usually get to us?
01:36 Okay. So cholera, as we said earlier in our video, is caused by Vibrio cholerae.
01:43 We usually get Vibrio cholerae from the food we eat or the water we drink that is contaminated with the bacteria.
01:54 So usually, if we are not sure where the source of our food or water is,
02:02 it can be contaminated by various microbes like Vibrio cholerae, which can cause symptoms of cholera.
02:11 So the transmission of the disease of cholera is usually phyco-oral, meaning,
02:17 from the food or the water we drink that is contaminated by the organism or the bacteria itself.
02:26 Doc, what are the symptoms of cholera? And is there a difference in other diseases?
02:31 Because some have amebiasis, right? From water, from bacteria, water, food. What is the difference?
02:39 That's a very good question.
02:41 Because when we talk about diseases that are caused by contaminated food or water,
02:49 there are different symptoms.
02:52 When we talk about cholera, the most common thing we see is diarrhea, stomach pains.
03:00 But for example, if there are other causes of diarrheal infections like cholera,
03:10 the presentation will be different.
03:13 But for the sake of when we talk about cholera, the most common thing we see is vomiting, stomach pain, and vomiting.
03:25 And usually, because it affects our digestive system, the symptoms are usually there.
03:34 This is common in remote provinces.
03:38 But like you said, if there is no water in the body, the LBM is weak.
03:43 So how do we know? Because sometimes we just eat the wrong food, or sometimes because there is a change in our bowel movement.
03:54 What is the difference if it is cholera or just a normal LBM?
03:58 That's a very good question. Because there are different presentations.
04:04 What we usually do is we do clinical.
04:07 If we see that the symptoms have been there for a long time, and there is a pattern,
04:13 usually when it is cholera, sometimes the disease can actually manifest for a few days.
04:21 And one of the things that we want to be able to do is to prevent that.
04:28 So our sign that it is cholera is usually when it happens 7 to 12 days after the infection.
04:40 Because usually, it doesn't show up.
04:43 But for example, if it takes a long time for the diarrhea to disappear,
04:50 not just diarrhea, we might have to look at bacterial causes already.
04:56 The most different thing is the type of medicine that we give.
05:01 Because if it's just something that is viral, because the most usual cause of diarrheal infections or food poisoning symptoms is constipation.
05:12 If it lasts long or there are other symptoms like fever or bloody diarrhea,
05:19 we usually give other medications because it might be bacterial in nature.
05:26 Doc, aside from medication, what other treatments can be done if you have cholera?
05:33 And usually, how long does it last when you have this?
05:37 Actually, Ms. Mejie, it's good that we think about that because the most important thing we look out for when it comes to diarrheal infections
05:45 or gastrointestinal diseases is dehydration.
05:52 Because dehydration is the most dangerous thing we look out for when there is no water in the body because of constipation or vomiting.
06:02 And usually, what we look out for is when we give lunas, for example, oral rehydration therapy,
06:12 it will disappear in about a few days to a week.
06:17 But if it's something like cholera, aside from oral rehydration therapy so that we won't get dehydrated,
06:27 we also give antibiotics. The first line we usually give is doxycycline
06:33 to kill the microbial that is inside our stomach.
06:39 If there are over-the-counter medicines like charcoal that absorbs bacteria,
06:47 it won't work if it's like this.
06:51 That's a very good point, Sir Audrey. Because when we have cholera, especially when we already have a severe type of infection,
07:02 we need to give lunas with antibiotics because it won't die from supportive treatment like oral therapy.
07:15 Yes, we need oral therapy, that's important, but we also need antibiotics because the microbial won't die if it's not given,
07:24 especially when we look at or when we see severe diseases.
07:29 It's hard to distinguish if you have cholera or not.
07:35 So, usually, when we go to the LVM, we give over-the-counter medicines.
07:40 How many days, and then continuously? If it's continuous, what are the first signs that people should know that you have cholera?
07:50 Not just in the LVM, when we already look at the duration.
07:54 If it's prolonged, you will have no lunas, especially if, for example, you keep on vomiting, nothing happens.
08:04 How many days, Doctor?
08:05 Usually, we look at one week.
08:07 But I, when I have patients, I keep an eye on it for 3-5 days.
08:13 If it's still not there, I usually already look at other causes.
08:17 Maybe it's not just a viral diarrheal infection, maybe it's a bacterial infection like cholera.
08:26 Others, we look at typhoid fever, but that's another case.
08:30 The presentation is different.
08:32 But we usually look at the duration and the severity of symptoms.
08:39 If you have a fever, if you're not only vomiting and you're also seeing a headache,
08:47 and you're becoming numb, we usually already give other types of treatment, not just support.
08:54 Doc, I just want to ask, is this contagious once you're infected or not?
09:01 Cholera, we call it shedding.
09:05 What happens there, when a person is infected with an infection,
09:11 it can actually pass through to the fecal-oral route.
09:14 Because when we vomit, the bacteria is there in our gut.
09:20 When that gut contaminates other sources, especially water,
09:25 we can actually pass that bacteria to another person.
09:30 That's why cholera outbreak happens.
09:32 That's what I wanted to ask.
09:34 What happens when there's a cholera outbreak in a large area and the whole community is affected?
09:43 What does the health department do?
09:46 Usually, that's a very public health-related concern.
09:51 What we do is we look at or we trace where the source is.
09:55 Where the source of water or food is, where the infectious agent comes from.
10:01 And then when we find that out, we actually take the source away so that it doesn't increase.
10:08 That's actually the first public health-related concern that was solved
10:13 a few decades ago by John Snow.
10:16 So that's what we're really doing.
10:19 Alright. Thank you so much, Dr. Villa, for always inviting us to RSP and of course, Libre Intellimed.
10:28 Again, thank you, Doc.
10:30 Thank you, Doctor.