Cholera epidemic in Baghdad during 1999: clinical and bacteriological profile of hospitalized cases.
An epidemic of cholera in Iraq was anticipated for the year 1999 and a plan of notification and treatment of cases of diarrhoea was made. This paper documents the clinical and bacteriological profile of cholera cases admitted to the 6 hospitals in Baghdad during the epidemic. The number of stool culture-positive cases was 874. The peak incidence of cases (June 1999) was earlier than previous epidemics with no cases registered in November/December 1999. All age groups were affected and the case fatality rate was 1.3%. Strains isolated were Vibrio cholerae El-Tor O1, serotypes Ogawa (79.6%) and Inaba (12.1%), V. parahaemolyticus (2.0%) and non-agglutinable vibrios (6.1%). V. cholerae O139 was isolated from 2 cases (0.2%) for the first time in Iraq. Antibiotic resistance was noted, especially to tetracycline.
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. abbshaifa@yahoo.com
A M
AM
Al-Abbassi
S
S
Ahmed
T
T
Al-Hadithi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002771:Cholera / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D018563:Disease Notification; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007493:Iraq / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D012703:Serotyping; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1; D041242:Vibrio cholerae O139; D044163:Vibrio cholerae non-O1; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus