SEVERITY OF CHOLERA DURING CONCURRENT INFECTIONS WITH OTHER ENTERIC PATHOGENS

In a clinic-based case-control study in Bangladesh we evaluated whethe r children with diarrhoea due to V. cholerae O1 in association with ot her enteric pathogen(s) are likely to manifest more severe disease as indicated by development of moderate or severe dehydration. Children w ith moderate or severe dehydration were defined as cases and those wit h no dehydration were controls; both cases and controls had acute diar rhoea. A systematic sample of 268 dehydrated cases and 699 nondehydrat ed controls aged 1-35 months with acute watery diarrhoea of 6 days or less was included. In a multivariate analysis it has been shown that i nfection with Vibrio cholerae O1 in association with another diarrhoea pathogen (odds ratio=7.07) was strongly correlated with status of deh ydration than those with the V. cholerae O1 infection as a single path ogen (odds ratio=3.63). Either group was associated with significant r isk of dehydration. The results of the study suggest that more than on e enteropathogen may be simultaneously involved in causing severe diar rhoea, and appropriate public health measures to reduce environment co ntamination should be beneficial.