Khan M U
J Trop Med Hyg. 1982 Feb;85(1):27-9.
During an epidemic of cholera, vaccination has limited applicability in controlling its spread. It has been seen that one out of every five to 10 V. cholerae-infected people develops diarrhoea severe enough to require hospital treatment. Most health authorities are concerned with this severely ill group in whom the majority of deaths occur. During the cholera epidemic of 1975 in Dacca two doses of tetracycline were administered to all family contacts of index cases. The control group of cholera cases did not receive the drug. The families were re-visited after 10-12 days and history of any diarrhoea and hospitalization was obtained. It was found that the subsequent diarrhoea or cholera cases occurring among the cholera contacts within 10-12 days were not different between the treated (13.5%) and the untreated (14.4%) groups. The occurrence of severe cases requiring hospitalization was, however, significantly reduced in the treated group (8.0% to 4.5%). In view of the emergence of V. cholera strains resistant to tetracycline, antibiotic sensitivity testing of epidemic strains would be needed before use of tetracycline for protecting cholera contacts as an immediate control measure.
在霍乱流行期间，疫苗接种在控制其传播方面适用性有限。据观察，每五到十名感染霍乱弧菌的人中就有一人会出现严重到需要住院治疗的腹泻。大多数卫生当局关注的是这一重病群体，大多数死亡病例都发生在他们之中。在1975年达卡霍乱流行期间，对所有首例病例的家庭接触者都给予了两剂四环素。霍乱病例的对照组未接受该药物。10 - 12天后对这些家庭进行了回访，并了解了任何腹泻和住院情况。结果发现，在10 - 12天内，霍乱接触者中后续出现腹泻或霍乱病例的情况在治疗组（13.5%）和未治疗组（14.4%）之间并无差异。然而，治疗组中需要住院治疗的重症病例发生率显著降低（从8.0%降至4.5%）。鉴于出现了对四环素耐药的霍乱弧菌菌株，在将四环素用作保护霍乱接触者的直接控制措施之前，需要对流行菌株进行抗生素敏感性测试。
