OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING CHOLERA CARRIERS * 
By Otto ScH6BL 
(From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 
The condition frequently existing in persons termed by Eng- 
lish authors “carriers,” “distributors,” or “porters,” being com- 
mon to all intestinal bacterial infections, is found in Asiatic 
cholera, and in the case of chronic carriers is without doubt 
due to the infection of the gall passages by cholera vibrios. 
The portal of entry as well as the principal field of cholera 
infection in man is the intestinal tract, and it is quite natural 
that we look on the intestinal discharge as the main source of 
supply of the infectious material. Nevertheless we are led by 
experience in typhoid fever, a disease which has much in com- 
mon with cholera, to search for other less commonly infected 
excretions by means of which cholera vibrios may be discharged 
from the human body. The urine and the vomit of patients 
may be mentioned as examples. 
The first question of practical interest with regard to cholera 
carriers is: “How long is a cholera convalescent infective?” The 
following quotation from Greig? answers the question: “It is 
impossible from an ordinary medical examination to say 
‘whether or not a patient is infective.’’’ The bacteriological 
diagnosis, which consists of isolating and identifying the spe- 
cific vibrio, requires a fairly well-equipped laboratory and an 
experienced personnel. These are not always available; there- 
fore the data on the vitality of cholera vibrios in the human 
body may be of practical value under these circumstances. 
The results of the examinations of about 80 cholera patients 
and carriers gave the following figures: 
TABLE I.—Outbreak of cholera in Manila, 1912-1914. 
Stools positive: Patients. 
For from 2 to 7 days 43 
For from 7 to 14 days 22 
For from 14 to 21 days 6 
For from 21 to 28 days 5 
For 48 days 1 
*Read at the annual meeting of the Philippine Islands Medical Associa- 
tion, Manila, November 4-7, 1914. 
*Indian Journ. Med. Research (1914), 1, 67. 
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