Medina E
Escuela de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
Rev Med Chil. 1991 Aug;119(8):943-56.
In January 1991 a severe epidemic of cholera started in Peru, a country located north of Chile. The first case in Chile was confirmed in april and so far 41 cases and 2 deaths have been reported. The epidemic is caused by Vibrio cholerae 01, El Tor biotype, Inaba serotype. Most cases occurred in Santiago, 2/3 of them in men and all above 15 years of age. An unknown number of asymptomatic infected people arriving in Santiago are the likely agents for the epidemic. Contamination of sewage and use of infected water to irrigate vegetable fields is involved in the transmission of the disease. The situation is linked to the inexistence of sewage treatment plants. In comparison to Peru, with near 200,000 patients and over 1000 deaths, the epidemic in Chile has been small as a consequence of intensive health education efforts. Personal hygiene, abstinence from eating raw vegetables and fish, destruction of presumed infected crops, and prohibition of vegetable transportation to other areas have been the cornerstone of the preventive strategies. Early treatment of severely dehydrated patients has determined a low fatality rate. At present, the epidemic is virtually controlled with 1 or 2 cases a week. However, the sanitary problems related to sewage treatment and the existence of cholera in other South American countries poses a serious problem for the future.
1991年1月，一场严重的霍乱疫情在位于智利北部的秘鲁爆发。智利的首例病例于4月得到确认，截至目前，已报告41例病例，2人死亡。此次疫情由霍乱弧菌01型、埃尔托生物型、稻叶血清型引起。多数病例发生在圣地亚哥，其中三分之二为男性，且均为15岁以上人群。大量抵达圣地亚哥的无症状感染者可能是此次疫情的传染源。污水污染以及使用受感染的水灌溉菜地与疾病传播有关。这种情况与污水处理厂的缺失有关。与秘鲁相比，秘鲁有近20万患者，1000多人死亡，由于大力开展健康教育工作，智利的疫情规模较小。个人卫生、禁食生蔬菜和生鱼、销毁疑似受感染的作物以及禁止蔬菜运往其他地区一直是预防策略的基石。对严重脱水患者的早期治疗使得死亡率较低。目前，疫情实际上已得到控制，每周有1至2例病例。然而，与污水处理相关的卫生问题以及其他南美国家存在霍乱疫情，给未来带来了严重问题。
