"Indeed, we have a patient who has been diagnosed with cholera" - Poland's Chief Sanitary Inspector, Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, confirmed on Sunday morning. He added that the highly infectious disease was diagnosed in an elderly woman in northwestern Poland's city of Stargard, and the infection was confirmed by two tests.
Dr. Grzesiowski emphasized that neither the woman nor anyone in her immediate circle had left the country. He explained that cases of the disease do occur in Poland, but they usually involve people who have returned from foreign travel.
"Cholera is considered a particularly dangerous disease due to its high contagiousness. Due to its severe course, we had to decide to isolate the patient. She was transferred to a specialized infectious diseases ward in Szczecin".
- Dr. Grzesiowski said, adding that over 20 people who had contact with patient zero are in quarantine now.
Cholera is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae. It spreads epidemically through water contaminated by patients and carriers. Its main symptoms are acute, watery diarrhea and vomiting, leading to dehydration. Without appropriate treatment, it can lead to death within just a few hours. Cholera is treated with antibiotics and intensive, including intravenous, rehydration.
In Poland, the last cholera case - before the one in Stargard - was detected in 2019, in an Indian sailor whose ship concluded its intercontinental cruise in another northwestern Polish city, Świnoujście.
In Europe, the most dangerous cholera epidemic occurred between 1831 and 1838. It spread across partitioned, occupied Poland at that time because of infections among Russian troops brought in to suppress the November Uprising. This epidemic's victims included Russia's Grand Duke Constantine and Tsarist Marshal Ivan Dybich, and Prussia's Marshal August von Gneisenau, famous war theorist Carl von Clausewitz, and philosopher Georg Hegel.
Further large-scale epidemics were recorded between 1848 and 1855, and it is likely that the legendary Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz died from it during the 1855 cholera outburst in Istanbul.
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Source: IAR, PAP