Geography 2430A/B Chapter 8: Chapter 8.docx
6 Dec 2013
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Document Summary
Cholera is a disease caused by the ingestion of a bacterium, vibrio cholera, present in water contaminated by fecal matter. Symptoms are massive loss of water and salts, leading to watery diarrhea. John snow and robert koch"s research on the link between cholera and contaminated water played a major role in producing the sanitary reforms that helped control the disease in the developed world. Still a major cause of mortality across the globe. Resides in the gut of apparently health individuals who may be traveling widely, it can spread via other transport routes. Malnutrition contributes to a predisposition to cholera since the body"s defense mechanisms are weakened. It is the poorest countries that remain greatly impacted. The disease is socially patterned, with better-off families having lower disease incidence. Higher incidence has been reported close to a hospital dealing with the disease, since local residents have used canal water polluted by effluent discharge by the hospital into the canal.
