Although cholera has been around for centuries, scientists haven’t always known what causes the disease.

While we don’t know when the disease first surfaced, ancient texts describe what may have been cholera in the 4th century BC. The first fully documented cholera pandemic took place in 1817 in India and quickly spread throughout Asia and into Europe.

The pandemic ended around six years after beginning, only for a second cholera pandemic to occur in 1829. This time around, the disease spread much further, making its way to the Americas.

There were continuous outbreaks of cholera throughout the world until 1851.

It wasn’t until 1854 that one scientist made a link between the disease and what causes it.

“In the nineteenth century it was believed that the disease was transmitted and spread by a ‘bad air’ or ‘bad smells’ from rotting organic matter,” the Royal College of Surgeons of England wrote. “This thinking dominated official medical and government statements and the recently created General Board of Health was among those that believed in this theory. But it was not until 1854 that the physician John Snow made a major contribution to fight cholera when he was able to demonstrate a link between cholera and the contaminated drinking water through his pioneering studies.”

Snow was able to speak with officials about the public pump handle, which resulted in a drastic drop in cholera cases.

But Snow wasn’t the only one to make significant discoveries surrounding cholera. The bacterium that causes cholera was also discovered that year by an Italian microbiologist named Filippo Pacini. Later, in 1883, a German microbiologist named Robert Koch also discovered the presence of the cholera bacterium in the intestines, and named the bacteria V. cholerae.

Once the cause of cholera was discovered, many countries were able to make changes to public sanitation, which helped to lower cholera cases and prevent pandemics. Today, about 120 countries are still impacted by the disease. Some have had outbreaks in recent years including Zimbabwe, Haiti, Somalia and Yemen.

Planning a trip to a region with cholera? Make sure you are immunized with Passport Health. Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Written for Passport Health by Elle Johnson. Elle is a freelance journalist and social media content creator in Florida. Not only does she enjoy working as a freelancer, but in her free time she enjoys working on fictional stories.

Typhoid fever can be a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. Typically, typhoid is spread through sewage contaminated food or water and person-to-person contact. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it’s estimated that between 11 – 20 million people contract typhoid each year with roughly 128,000 – 161,000 cases resulting in death (WHO https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/typhoid). There are currently two vaccine options as well as antibiotic treatments available to treat typhoid.

If you are pregnant, it’s important to take extra precautions when traveling to areas where typhoid is present. Typhoid can cause added complications to pregnancy.

The main symptom of typhoid is a prolonged high fever. Other symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, fatigue, headache, loss of appetite or nausea. In some cases, people may develop a rash of flat, rose-colored spots. When a person is infected, the bacteria tend to be found in the bloodstream and intestinal tract. Like any gastroenteric infection, typhoid can negatively affect a pregnancy.

Typhoid is difficult to treat during pregnancy because the usual antibiotics used may pose a risk to the fetus. There has been a rise antibiotic resistance among the types of salmonellae, which makes the selection of antibiotics limited in addition to the limitations that pregnancy adds to antibiotic choices.

When you’re pregnant your immune system can be weakened. If your health is compromised, it can then adversely affect the health of the fetus. If typhoid causes the fatigue, nausea, or loss of appetite, there is a chance that the doctor recommends a liquid diet. In this case, there is a risk of the fetus not receiving adequate nutrition for proper development. This could lead to premature birth or an underweight newborn.

If typhoid is left untreated, the symptoms can cause the mother to be severely ill or face complications. This includes the potential for a miscarriage.

Pregnancy comes with its own risks. During pregnancy you can already expect bouts of weakness, fatigue, and nausea. Any added infection or complication can interfere with both the mother’s and the baby’s health. One study showed that if a pregnant woman contracts typhoid their pregnancy can be further complicated by neonatal typhoid, where the infection reaches the placenta.

If you suspect that you may have contracted typhoid and are pregnant, it’s important to treat the situation as a medical emergency, no matter which stage you’re at in your pregnancy. People who don’t receive appropriate antibiotic treatment could have a fever for weeks or months and may develop complications from their infection. Once typhoid is identified, usually through a blood test or stool sample, the doctor will help develop a treatment plan.

Typhoid infection while pregnant can lead to a variety of complications including improper growth and development of the baby due to the mother’s weakness and inability to receive proper nutrition as well as the risk of a miscarriage. Vaccination is the best form of protection to avoid typhoid infection.

Remember that vaccines may not always be 100 percent effective. It’s necessary to practice safe eating and drinking habits in areas with typhoid. This includes washing your hands after using the restroom and before eating, avoiding raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled, and opting for no ice.

Pregnant and planning a trip? Make sure you’re protected with vaccines and advice from Passport Health. Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Written for Passport Health by Brianna Malotke. Brianna is a freelance writer and costume designer located in Illinois. She’s an avid coffee drinker and enjoys researching new topics for writing projects. Her site can be found here.

In 500 BC famous philosopher Parmenides said “Give me the power to produce fever, and I’ll cure all disease”. Physicians in these early times noticed that their patients symptoms were drastically improved following a fever. Hippocrates, the Greek Physician noted that malarial fevers calmed his epileptic patients and several other physicians followed suit. The most notable physician to use fever therapy as a treatment is Austrian psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg in the early-20th century.

Wagner-Jauregg was a professor of psychiatry and Director of the Neuropsychiatric Clinic at the University of Graz, Austria. While working in the asylum he observed patients improving after contracting fevers naturally. From this Wagner-Jauregg hypothesized that his paralyzed patients could benefit from a high fever. But, there was no natural way to test this theory.

The patients that Wagner-Jauregg wanted to treat were suffering from neurosyphilis. The initial symptoms of neurosyphilis included spinal cord damage, ataxia, dementia, and psychosis. As the disease progressed, and the symptoms worsened, it became known as general paralysis of the insane (GPI). GPI is the late manifestation of systemic syphilis, and it accounted for nearly 2500 deaths each year and one fifth of all admissions to mental hospitals. Once patients reached the point of paralysis it was thought that death was imminent.

To test his theory of a fever cure, Wagner-Jauregg infected his patients with malaria which produced a long lasting high fever. This method of consistently producing a fever was a novel treatment option and won Wagner Von Jauregg the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927.

Malaria was not the first infectious disease he tested on his patients. Wagner-Jauregg initially tested streptococci and tuberculin bacteria. He quickly dismissed streptococci as a treatment and noted little to no improvement in the patients. Tuberculin on the other hand proved to be effective in some patients but was risky because others showed no improvement. In most cases, patients treated with tuberculin were only free of symptoms for a year or two, and then they relapsed.

In 1917 Wagner-Jauregg began testing malaria treatment on his patients. The malaria treatments were a success. Patients whose symptoms had recently started were able to be completely cured and return to their normal lives. Unfortunately, patients who had suffered from the symptoms for years showed little response to treatments.

Once Wagner-Jauregg’s patients had recovered from syphilis, they were treated with quinine to treat the malarial infection. The malarial fever treatment to treat syphilis was used by many physicians until the development of penicillin in the 1950’s.

Today, we do what we can to prevent malaria through antimalarial medication and treat infections like neurosyphilis with antibiotics. But, that’s just the start. New vaccines and other development allow us to live happy and healthy lives.

Are your vaccinations up-to-date? Planning a trip? Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Written for Passport Health by Brittany Evans. Brittany is a freelance writer and photographer in North Carolina. She has a passion for the outdoors, health information, and traveling. You can find her at her website.

We have all heard of the infamous COVID-19 parties. Most of these gatherings were put together in order for individuals to train their immune systems to fight off the infection through exposure. One could say that they were organized immunization parties.

Organized exposure to an infectious disease in order to build immunity is a dangerous idea. Let’s discuss why you shouldn’t get a disease on purpose and what you can do instead to protect yourself.

Isn’t That How Vaccines Work?

While it seems logical to get a disease on purpose in order to teach the immune system how to recognize and fight against it in the future, the actual process isn’t that straightforward. But, isn’t that how vaccines work? Not quite. Vaccines are created by using weakened or inactivated preparations of a pathogen. These preparations are then introduced into the body systematically to provide protection.

When you expose yourself to a disease on purpose through intentional association with infected individuals, you are not taking in a weakened or inactivated form of the pathogen that causes the disease. You’re taking in the fully virulent and dangerous form of the pathogen. As a result, you and those around you may suffer some very dangerous consequences.

Dangers of Intentional Infection

Everyone’s immune system is different. Our current health, lifestyle, age, upbringing and natural exposure all impact the strength of our immune systems. If you intentionally get infected with a disease, your immune system actually may not be able to handle it and you may suffer long term complications.

For example, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is highly infectious but relatively weak compared to previous stains of the virus. However, some medical professionals say that it is still possible to suffer some of the long term effects that were seen with the alpha (initial) strain of COVID-19. Intentionally getting infected with Omicron in order to acquire immunity could lead to long term respiratory complications, similar to complications that resulted from the alpha strain.

The people in your community may have weaker immune systems than you. If you choose to get a disease on purpose, you may tolerate the sickness well and develop the desired immunity. However, you will most likely infect others in the community. Those around you might be elderly or immunocompromised and may not be able to fight off the infection. Your choice of intentional infection might lead to someone else’s hospitalization or even death.

A Better Alternative

A much better alternative to intentionally getting a disease is to get vaccinated. Many infectious diseases have vaccines that can be taken to prevent illness. For example, the virus that causes COVID-19 has a very safe and effective vaccine as well as booster doses to help maintain immunity. These vaccines are safer than natural exposure to the virus and will help keep you and your community safe.

Passport Health offers a variety of vaccines to help you stay healthy at home and abroad. Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Ese Agboh is a student nurse who wants to specialize in pediatric nursing and wound care. In her free time, she enjoys reading and writing articles related to medicine and the pathophysiology of communicable diseases. Ese currently lives and studies on the east coast of the United States.

There is something inherently special about traveling. From the amazing sights that you will see to the people, you spend it with, even down to the delicious foods you will taste, traveling is all about making memories. Traveling can actually boost your mental health in a variety of ways.

Boosting Your Creativity

When you are immersed and surrounded by brand new cultures, sights, sounds, and smells, you will find your mind more open to new things. It also can boost your creativity. Just think of all the incredible pictures that you can take or the people that you can sketch. All of those activities can give you that mental lift that you need.

It Boosts Happiness

Even the thought of mapping out a trip is enthralling to think about, and that makes all the tasks that go with the planning go that much easier. Just thinking about it can give your brain a boost. A study that was done at Cornell University actually found that the anticipation of the trip is comparable, if not more exciting than purchasing a new car. Even before you go on your trip, it’s making you happy.

It’s Self Care

When you come to think about it, traveling is actually an excellent form of self-care. Not only do you get to visit the destination of your dreams, but you have the freedom to do whatever you wish, even if that is staying in and reading a good book. It’s all about what’s good for you. It helps you to rest, relax, and live in the moment.

Connect With Nature

Surrounded by the beautiful flora and fauna that the area you chose has to offer is a great way to well, basically, “stop and smell the roses.” It gives us moments and beautiful settings that we can practice mindfulness in. Taking the time to breathe in that fresh air and just enjoy it is something special, especially if you are connecting with nature. That can be done through things like taking hikes, foraging for food, searching for buried treasure with your child, really anything can connect you with nature.

Increase In Physical Activity

We all know that when we are out walking or exercising, we are doing good for our physical health, but did you know that helps with mental health as well? Even just walking around the city can release dopamine levels, which in turn make us happy. So, definitely get in some physical activity where you can, whether it’s climbing stairs or taking a hike.

Planning a trip? Make sure you can fully enjoy it with vaccines and travel health advice from Passport Health. Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Jennifer Passmore is a stay-at-home mom, writer and beader. She loves creating art with her words and through her jewelry. She is also a passionate mental health advocate. You can find more writing at her website Positivity In Pain.