someone said something helpful here. about cholera. but not about a new vaccine, a new super-antibiotic, or engineering a new vector that can be lulled to sleep by harp music, along with plans for a helicopter drop of harps or new ways to subsidize harps.
whenever epidemics of cholera occur, the global public health community is energized. experts meet, guidelines for control are reviewed and reissued, and new and modified interventions are proposed and promoted… [but]
the best intervention for long-term cholera control and, for that matter, for the control of the great majority of diarrheal diseases is the strategy that eliminated epidemic cholera from the united states and northern europe long before either marketed antibiotics or effective vaccines existed. the development and maintenance of water and sewage treatment systems assured safe drinking water and safe disposal of sewage for all, keeping contaminated sewage out of water, foods, and the environment. the strategy not only eliminated cholera but also dramatically reduced mortality related to diarrheal diseases of all causes.
among others, culter’s articles on mortality determinants are worth reading.
Heather E. Lanthorn 