Comparison of clinical features of epidemic dysentery and cholera

	Epidemic dysentery	Cholera
Causative organism	Shigella dysenteriae type 1	Vibrio cholerae O1 (Vibrio cholerae O139)
Infective dose	10 to 100 organisms	1000 to 1,000,000 organisms
Clinical features	Bloody diarrhea Abdominal cramps Fever Rectal pain	Watery diarrhea Dehydration Vomiting
Complications	Seizures Rectal prolapse Hemolytic-uremic syndrome Sepsis	Severe hypovolemia/shock Electrolyte abnormalities
Treatment	Antibiotics	Rehydration
Transmission	Food and water Person-to-person	Food and water
Case fatality rate	10 to 20 percent (untreated) 5 percent (treated)	40 percent (untreated) <1 percent (treated)

Courtesy of Regina C LaRocque, MD, MPH, and Mark Pietroni, MA, FRCP, FFPH, DTM&H.

Graphic 86522 Version 2.0