Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1972;46(2):257–262.

A comparison of purging and multiple rectal swabs in the detection of inapparent cholera infections*

Ranjit K Barui, Wiley H Mosley, William M McCormack
PMCID: PMC2480708  PMID: 4555774

Abstract

The relative effectiveness of daily rectal-swab cultures and cultures of purged stools in detecting inapparent infections of Vibrio cholerae were compared in family contacts of cholera patients. In one study of 187 contacts, a combination of purging by various methods plus 5 daily swabs detected 50 infections. Only 27 (54%) were detected by the purge alone, while 47 (94%) were detected by 5 daily rectal-swab cultures. In a second study of two groups of family contacts, purging on the first day did not appear to influence significantly the number of positive rectal-swab cultures obtained during the 4 subsequent days. The relative inefficiency of purging in detecting the inapparent infections among cholera contacts, as compared with its reported efficacy in the chronic convalescent carrier, probably reflects a basic difference in the pathogenesis and site of infection in these different conditions.

Full text

PDF
257

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Azurin J. C., Kobari K., Barua D., Alvero M., Gomez C. Z., Dizon J. J., Nakano E. I., Suplido R., Ledesma L. A long-term carrier of cholera: cholera Dolores. Bull World Health Organ. 1967;37(5):745–749. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BENENSON A. S., ISLAM M. R., GREENOUGH W. B., 3rd RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF VIBRIO CHOLERAE BY DARKFIELD MICROSCOPY. Bull World Health Organ. 1964;30:827–831. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Forbes G. I., Lockhart J. D., Robertson M. J., Allan W. G. Cholera case investigation and the detection and treatment of cholera carriers in Hong Kong. Bull World Health Organ. 1968;39(3):381–388. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gangarosa E. J., Saghari H., Emile J., Siadat H. Detection of Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor by purging. Bull World Health Organ. 1966;34(3):363–369. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KOBAYASHI T., ENOMOTO S., SAKAZAKI R., KUWAHARA S. [A NEW SELECTIVE ISOLATION MEDIUM FOR THE VIBRIO GROUP; ON A MODIFIED NAKANISHI'S MEDIUM (TCBS AGAR MEDIUM)]. Nihon Saikingaku Zasshi. 1963 Nov;18:387–392. doi: 10.3412/jsb.18.387. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. McCormack W. M., Islam M. S., Fahimuddin M., Mosley W. H. A community study of inapparent cholera infections. Am J Epidemiol. 1969 Jun;89(6):658–664. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120979. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Mosley W. H., Ahmad S., Benenson A. S., Ahmed A. The relationship of vibriocidal antibody titre to susceptibility to cholera in family contacts of cholera patients. Bull World Health Organ. 1968;38(5):777–785. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Oseasohn R., Ahmad S., Islam M. A., Rahman A. S. Clinical and bacteriological findings among families of cholera patients. Lancet. 1966 Feb 12;1(7433):340–342. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(66)91322-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pierce N. F., Banwell J. C., Gorbach S. L., Mitra R. C., Mondal A., Manji P. M. Bacteriological studies of convalescent carriers of cholera vibrios. Indian J Med Res. 1969 Apr;57(4):706–712. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tamayo J. F., Mosley W. H., Alvero M. G., Joseph P. R., Gomez C. Z., Montague T., Dizon J. J., Henderson D. A. Studies of cholera El Tor in the Philippines. 3. Transmission of infection among household contacts of cholera patients. Bull World Health Organ. 1965;33(5):645–649. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES