Review on effects of treating cholera with antimicrobial drugs

Researchers from the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group, co-ordinated through the editorial base in LSTM, conducted an independent review of the effects of treating cholera with antimicrobial drugs, published in The Cochrane Library today. Cholera is an acute watery diarrhoea caused by infection with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which can cause rapid dehydration and death. Effective treatment requires early diagnosis and rehydration using oral rehydration salts or intravenous fluids. This review looked at the effects of adding antimicrobial drugs to this treatment. Thirty-nine randomized and quasi-randomized controlled clinical trials were included in the review, with a combined total of 4623 participants, both adults and children. Overall the researchers found that antimicrobial therapy shortened the average duration of diarrhoea by about a day and a half when compared to placebo or no treatment. Antimicrobial therapy also reduced the total stool volume by 50% and reduced the amount of rehydration fluids required by 40%, and...