Cholera Treatment

The treatment should in the beginning aim at combating the loss of fluids and salts from the body. To allay thirst, water, soda water or green coconut water should be given for sipping although this may be thrown out by vomiting. Only small quantities of water should be given repeatedly, as these may remain for sometime within the stomach and stay of every one minutes means some absorption. 

Ice may be given for sucking. This will reduce internal temperature and restrict the tendency to vomit. Intravenous infusions of saline solution should be given to compensate for the loss of fluids and salts from the body. The patient may require five liters or more a day. Care should, however, be taken to avoid water logging.

Potassium may be added to the infused fluid. Rectal saline may sometimes prove useful for adults. Normally, half a liter of saline, with 30 grams of glucose, should be given per rectum every four hours until urine is passed freely.

After the acute stage of cholera is over, the patient may be given green coconut water and barley water in very thin form. When the stools begin to form, he should be given butter-milk. As he progresses towards recovery, rice softened to semi-solid form mixed with curd, may be given.
The patient should not be given solid food till he has fully recovered. Liquid and bland foods, which the patient can ingest without endangering a reoccurrence of the malady, are best.
Lemon, onion, green chilies, vinegar and mint should be included in the daily diet during an epidemic of cholera.

Home Remedies
Lemon juice can kill cholera bacilli within a short time. It is also a very effective and reliable preventive food item against cholera during the epidemic. It can be taken in the form of sweetened or salted beverages for this purpose.

The root bark of guava is another valuable remedy, rich in tannins and can be successfully employed in the form of concentrated decoction in cholera. It will arrest vomiting and symptoms of diarrhea.

Onion, 30 grams of this vegetable and seven black peppers should be finely pounded in a pestle. 

The fresh juice of biter gourd is another effective medicine in the early stages of cholera. Two teaspoons of this juice, mixed with an equal quantity of white onion juice and a teaspoon of lime juice, should be given Cholera can be controlled only by rigid purification of water supplies and proper disposal of human wastes. In case of the slightest doubt about the contamination of the water, it must be boiled before use, for drinking and cooking purposes. 

All fruit and vegetables must be washed in a solution of potassium permanganate before consumption. Other precautions against this disease include avoiding uncooked vegetables, thorough washing of hands by al those who handle food, and elimination of al contacts with the disease.