Endemic and epidemic dynamics of cholera: the role of the aquatic reservoir.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In the last decades, attention to cholera epidemiology increased, as cholera epidemics became a worldwide health problem. Detailed investigation of V. cholerae interactions with its host and with other organisms in the environment suggests that cholera dynamics is much more complex than previously thought. Here, I formulate a mathematical model of cholera epidemiology that incorporates an environmental reservoir of V. cholerae. The objective is to explore the role of the aquatic reservoir on the persistence of endemic cholera as well as to define minimum conditions for the development of epidemic and endemic cholera.

Results

The reproduction rate of cholera in a community is defined by the product of social and environmental factors. The importance of the aquatic

SUBMITTER: Codeco CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC29087 | biostudies-literature | 2001

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature