Table 3.

Flow diagram of cholera case management in Ethiopia.

¹IV therapy for patients with severe dehydration. ORS during and after IV therapy when patient becomes able to drink. Antibiotics can reduce volume/duration of diarrhea and shorten period of infectivity. Treatment with rehydration of patients should not be delayed by specimen collection. Zinc supplementation for children with watery diarrhea including cholera is also recommended (children aged 6–59 months to receive zinc supplementation for 10 days when vomiting stops). Refer to Table 4 for detailed treatment options for cholera case management.

²Specimen collection before antibiotics.

³Discharging patients: For hospitalized patients, transfer to recovery area for continued observation and ORS for 6 h. For patients in recovery area, discharge if no more signs of dehydration and less than three liquid stools in past 6 h.

CT, Cholera Treatment Center; CTU, Cholera Treatment Unit; ORP, Oral Rehydration Points; ORS, Oral Rehydration Solutions; IV, Intravenous.