Nutritional Status: A Determinant of Severity of Diarrhea in Patients with Cholera

The severity of diarrhea and nutritional status were measured in a prospective study of 97 patients hospitalized with cholera in Dacca, Bangladesh. Ninety-five percent of both adults and children were below their respective medians in weight as related to height; <15% of each group showed second-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 134; no. 1; pp. 8 - 14
Main Authors:	Palmer, D. L., Koster, F. T., Alam, A. K. M. J., Islam, M. R.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States The University of Chicago Press 01-07-1976 University of Chicago Press
Subjects:	Adults Age Antibiotics Bangladesh Body Height Body Weight Child Child nutrition Child nutrition disorders Child, Preschool Cholera Cholera - complications Cholera - drug therapy Diarrhea Diarrhea - diagnosis Diarrhea - etiology Humans Infant Intestinal Mucosa - pathology Major Articles Male Malnutrition Nutrition Nutritional status Population Protein-Energy Malnutrition - complications Tetracycline - therapeutic use Toxins, Biological - metabolism Vibrio cholerae Bangladesh Body Weight Age Factors Nutrition Health Nutrition Disorders Southern Asia Diarrhea Research Methodology Diseases Bangladesh Clinical Research Asia Population Characteristics Population Developing Countries Malnutrition Demographic Factors
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Summary:	The severity of diarrhea and nutritional status were measured in a prospective study of 97 patients hospitalized with cholera in Dacca, Bangladesh. Ninety-five percent of both adults and children were below their respective medians in weight as related to height; <15% of each group showed second-degree protein-calorie malnutrition. Duration of diarrhea, but not volume of stool per hour, was prolonged by 30%–70% in those adults and children suffering from more severe malnutrition. The increased stool loss was unrelated to antibiotic usage, to presence of intestinal parasites, or to the refeeding diet given. It is suggested that the prolongation of diarrhea represents the continued effect of cholera toxin that is irreversibly bound to intestinal mucosal cells, the replacement of which would be retarded under conditions of poor nutrition.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/HXZ-RR8XBBLF-M istex:F3EB51CDCEEE501BCDEEBD95929DBF60581F71BF Please address requests for reprints to Dr. D. L. Palmer at his present address: Department of Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Veterans Administration Hospital, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108. ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-News-3 content type line 23
ISSN:	0022-1899 1537-6613
DOI:	10.1093/infdis/134.1.8