Oral tetracycline therapy in cholera

Abstract

The present study represents 3 groups of severely ill male cholera patients, who upon admission were similar in all respects except weight. Eleven control patients received only routine intravenous replacement therapy and no antibiotics. The other 2 groups both received 2 grs of tetracycline; 17 patients received 500 mg every 6 hours for 4 doses and 14 received 250 mg every 6 hours for 8 doses. The results demonstrate that 2 grs of oral tetracycline given in equally divided doses for either 1 or 2 days was effective in reducing the amount and duration of the diarrhea and in reducing the percentage of positive Vibrio cholerae cultures. This small dosage of tetracycline was not effective in establishing an irreversible vibrio-sterilizing effect, and several treated patients continued to excrete vibrios longer than the control patients.