Cholera: Virulence, Origin, And Pandemics

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

kill more hosts. If mortality rates are very low or not present at all, greater virulence can be expressed as causing more symptoms of illness. One such pathogen is Vibrio cholerae, which causes the disease known as cholera. The subject of this paper will focus on the V. cholerae pathogen and the significance of its presence on Earth. I will examine virulence patterns of various strains of V. cholerae, and what they are inclined to do.
Come (from) Hell or High (risk) Water?
Cholera’s origin is a topic that has been widely debated over the years. Some think that it dates back thousands of years to the first human civilizations that obtained water from public sources (1). Another common perception among religious leaders is that it is a great plague sent by their angered deity or deities, depending upon the religious group or which we are speaking, of course. Still, others feel that cholera is a relatively new disease dating back only about two hundred years. I am not ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

V. cholerae is the O antigen, which has multiple classifications systems itself. Easily stated, there are 139 different O groups now known. V. cholerae of the O1 serogroup that produce a cholera toxin (CT) has been well documented as the main culprit of epidemic cholera outbreaks. The O1 serogroup can be further divided into three serotypes: Ogawa, Inaba, and Hikojima (4). V. cholerae is also split into two biotypes: classical and El Tor. The classical type is considered more virulent than the relatively mild El Tor. It simply has a higher mortality rate—15% compared to only about 2%--because it produces more cholera toxin than does El Tor (1). The El Tor V. cholerae strain ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: