King Cholera – Artifact 7

Cholera

“Cholera”, from the Greek, meaning literally “gutter of a roof”. This disease is aptly named because of the dysentery-like symptoms associated with it. Victims experience muscles cramps with diarrhea and vomiting of incredibly severity. Without treatment, the victim dies of dehydration within 24 hours. The loss of water and electrolytes, but retention of protein leads to shock very quickly if not treated. Because a person in shock is practically worthless when it comes to self-care, it is entirely possible to die in a single day. This rapid and debilitating illness often rises to epidemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In the past century, seven pandemics of cholera have carried the disease all over the world.

 

The Cause:

These crazy symptoms are caused by an acute infection in the small intestine of Vibrio cholerae, a gram-negative, comma-shaped, bacillus. This bacteria can be water or food borne and is salt-tolerant. Scientists have identified over 200 different serogroups of V. cholerae, but only two of these are known to cause cholera in humans.  This is due to the fact that these two, pathogenic 01 & 0139, produce cholera toxin, and enterotoxin that affects the cells of the small intestine.

 

Spreading Cholera

Cholera is primarily spread by the shedding of infectious cells through the feces of an infected person. Therefore, very basic amenities such as plumbing and clean water are a great way to limit the spread of cholera. John Snow (no, not that one) discovered the link between sickness and contaminated water in 1854. Dr. Farr was alive at this same time and had a miasmatic model for the disease, which was incorrect. He was correct however, about the fact that social conditions played a role. Henry Whitehead, a priest in the Church of England was also alive in Soho during the 1854 cholera outbreak. Mr. Whitehead was a firm believer of the miasma model of disease but eventually became a supporter of Snow’s model. Mr. Whitehead had extensive knowledge of the locals, enough to pinpoint the epidemics starting point. His help was instrumental in Snow convincing the local authorities to remove the handle of the Broad Street pump.