Passport Health logo
Vaccinations|Find a Travel Clinic|Advice
  • Home
    • About
        • Company History
        • Careers
        • Executive Team
        • Contact Us
        • Customer Feedback
        • FAQ
        • Mission Statement
        • Privacy Policy
        • Blog
    • Close
  • Destination Advice
    • Top Destinations
        • Brazil
        • China
        • Costa Rica
        • India
        • Kenya
        • Peru
        • Philippines
        • South Africa
        • Thailand
        • Vietnam
    • Destination Advice
        • Tips and recommendations for healthy travel to any destination:

          • Afghanistan
          • Albania
          • Algeria
          • American Samoa
          • Andorra
          • Angola
          • Anguilla
          • Antarctica
          • Antigua and Barbuda
          • Argentina
          • Armenia
          • Aruba
          • Australia
          • Austria
          • Azerbaijan
          • Azores
          • Bahamas
          • Bahrain
          • Balearics
          • Bangladesh
          • Barbados
          • Belarus
          • Belgium
          • Belize
          • Benin
          • Bhutan
          • Bolivia
          • Bonaire
          • Bora Bora
          • Bosnia
          • Botswana
          • Brazil
          • British Virgin Islands
          • Brunei
          • Bulgaria
          • Burkina Faso
          • Burma
          • Burundi
          • Cambodia
          • Cameroon
          • Canada
          • Canary Islands
          • Cape Verde
          • Cayman Islands
          • Central African Republic
          • Chad
          • Chile
          • China
          • Christmas Island
          • Cocos (Keeling) Islands
          • Colombia
          • Comoros
          • Cook Islands
          • Costa Rica
          • Cote d'Ivoire
          • Croatia
          • Cuba
          • Curacao
          • Cyprus
          • Czechia
          • Democratic Republic of the Congo
          • Denmark
          • Djibouti
          • Dominica
          • Dominican Republic
          • East Timor
          • Easter Island
          • Ecuador
          • Egypt
          • El Salvador
          • Equatorial Guinea
          • Eritrea
          • Estonia
          • Ethiopia
          • Falkland Islands
          • Faroe Islands
          • Fiji
          • Finland
          • France
          • French Guiana
          • French Polynesia
          • Gabon
          • Gambia
          • Georgia
          • Germany
          • Ghana
          • Gibraltar
          • Greece
          • Greenland
          • Grenada
          • Guadeloupe
          • Guam
          • Guatemala
          • Guinea-Bissau
          • Guinea
          • Guyana
          • Haiti
          • Hawaii
          • Honduras
          • Hong Kong
          • Hungary
          • Ibiza
          • Iceland
          • India
          • Indonesia
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Ireland
          • Israel
          • Italy
          • Jamaica
          • Japan
          • Jordan
          • Kazakhstan
          • Kenya
          • Kiribati
          • Kosovo
          • Kuwait
          • Kyrgyzstan
          • Laos
          • Latvia
          • Lebanon
          • Lesotho
          • Liberia
          • Libya
          • Liechtenstein
          • Lithuania
          • Luxembourg
          • Macau
          • Macedonia
          • Madagascar
          • Madeira Islands
          • Malawi
          • Malaysia
          • Maldives
          • Mali
          • Malta
          • Marshall Islands
          • Martinique
          • Mauritania
          • Mauritius
          • Mayotte
          • Mexico
          • Micronesia
          • Moldova
          • Monaco
          • Mongolia
          • Montenegro
          • Montserrat
          • Morocco
          • Mozambique
          • Namibia
          • Nauru
          • Nepal
          • Netherlands
          • New Caledonia
          • New Zealand
          • Nicaragua
          • Niger
          • Nigeria
          • Niue
          • Norfolk Island
          • North Korea
          • Northern Mariana Islands
          • Norway
          • Oman
          • Pakistan
          • Palau
          • Palestinian Territories
          • Panama
          • Papua New Guinea
          • Paraguay
          • Peru
          • Philippines
          • Pitcairn Islands
          • Poland
          • Portugal
          • Puerto Rico
          • Qatar
          • Republic of the Congo
          • Réunion
          • Romania
          • Russia
          • Rwanda
          • Saba
          • St. Barthelemy
          • Saint Helena
          • St. Kitts and Nevis
          • St. Lucia
          • Saint Martin
          • St. Pierre-et-Miquelon
          • St. Vincent and the Grenadines
          • Samoa
          • San Marino
          • Sao Tome and Principe
          • Saudi Arabia
          • Senegal
          • Serbia
          • Seychelles
          • Sierra Leone
          • Singapore
          • Sint Eustatius
          • Slovakia
          • Slovenia
          • Solomon Islands
          • Somalia
          • South Africa
          • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
          • South Korea
          • South Sudan
          • Spain
          • Sri Lanka
          • Sudan
          • Suriname
          • Swaziland
          • Sweden
          • Switzerland
          • Syria
          • Tahiti
          • Taiwan
          • Tajikistan
          • Tanzania
          • Thailand
          • Togo
          • Tokelau
          • Tonga
          • Trinidad and Tobago
          • Tunisia
          • Turkey
          • Turkmenistan
          • Turks and Caicos Islands
          • Tuvalu
          • U.S. Virgin Islands
          • Uganda
          • Ukraine
          • United Arab Emirates
          • United Kingdom
          • United States
          • Uruguay
          • Uzbekistan
          • Vanuatu
          • Vatican
          • Venezuela
          • Vietnam
          • Wake Island
          • Western Sahara
          • Yemen
          • Zambia
          • Zimbabwe
    • Close
  • Travel Medicine
    • Travel Medical Services
        • Vaccines for Travel
        • Travel Health Consulting
        • Travellers’ Diarrhea Kits
        • Dengue Fever Prevention
        • Malaria Medication
        • Chikungunya Prevention
        • Zika Virus Prevention
        • Ebola Virus
        • Coronavirus
        • Travel Health Alerts
    • Additional Travel Services
      • Physician Referral Program
    • Close
  • Vaccinations
    • Overview
        • Chickenpox
        • Cholera (Dukoral)
        • Hepatitis A
        • Hepatitis B
        • Hep A/Typhoid Combo (Vivaxim)
        • Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
        • Japanese Encephalitis
        • Malaria Information
        • Measles – Mumps – Rubella (MMR)
        • Meningitis
        • Pneumonia
        • Polio
        • Rabies
        • Shingles
        • Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis
        • Typhoid
        • Yellow Fever
        • Drug Identification Numbers (DIN)
    • Influenza (The Flu)
        • Learn more about your flu vaccine options
          • For most individuals
          • For seniors over 65 years
    • Routine Tests
      • TB Tests
      • Routine Vaccinations
        • Overview
    • Close
  • Employer Solutions
    • Overview
      • Travel Medicine & Vaccinations
      • Onsite Flu Clinics
      • Retirement Community Flu Program
      • Onsite Vaccination Clinics
      • Biometric Screenings
      • Vaccine Credentialing
    • Close
  • Locations
        • Ontario

          Barrie Travel Clinic

          Brampton Travel Clinic

          Carlington - Ottawa Travel Clinic

          Etobicoke Travel Clinic

          Hamilton Travel Clinic

          Kitchener Travel Clinic

          London Travel Clinic

          Markham Travel Clinic

          Mississauga Travel Clinic

          Oakville Travel Clinic

          Richmond Hill Travel Clinic

          St. Catharines Travel Clinic

          Toronto Travel Clinic

          Whitby Travel Clinic

          Yorkville Travel Clinic

        • Alberta

          Chinook - Calgary Travel Clinic

          Downtown Calgary Travel Clinic

          Downtown Edmonton Travel Clinic

        • British Columbia

          Burnaby Travel Clinic

          Downtown Vancouver Travel Clinic

          North Vancouver Travel Clinic

          Surrey Travel Clinic

        • Quebec

          Downtown Montreal Travel Clinic

          Laval Travel Clinic

          Québec City Travel Clinic

          Westmount Travel Clinic

    • Close

History of the Cholera Vaccine

November 16, 2017 By Caitlin Hartwyk

Spanning over a century, the cholera vaccine required work from scientists all over the world.

From the first cholera vaccine created in 1885 to Vaxchora (approved by the FDA in 2016), the world has a much better understanding of the disease and its epidemics. That’s why knowing how vaccination prevention works is such an important tool.

Cholera is a bacterial disease the can be transmitted in water or food contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

Symptoms from the disease can range from mild to fatal. Cholera typically causes symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting. Both of which can lead to death due to dehydration if left untreated.

Origins of the disease trace back to approximately 500 B.C. Since then, there have been two “first” genuine discoveries of cholera’s bacteria, once in the 1850s and once in the 1880s.

The earliest original discovery of the comma-shaped Vibrio cholerae bacillus goes to Italian anatomist Filippo Pacini for his 1854 paper, “Microscopic observation and pathological deductions on cholera.” Pacini found the bacterial cause after the a bad outbreak of the disease in Italy that year. Yet, his work went completely unnoticed for a considerable time after his death.

For the next “first time” in the 1880s, cholera bacteria were found by famed scientist and physician Robert Koch. Koch also investigated important medial matters such as anthrax, microscopy and tuberculosis.

Koch and his team traveled from Germany to Egypt and India during major epidemics. There they discovered the presence of the bacteria in all the autopsies. Its signature bent look is now very recognizable.

The group did research that connected the bacteria to infected water supplies. This showed the immense need for clean water in local communities. Of course, guaranteed cleanliness was impossible for every person. Developing an effective vaccine would prove even more necessary.

Koch then made a discovery that would spark vaccine development. People infected with cholera became protected from the disease during that same outbreak.

In 1885, Spanish physician Jaime Ferrán, who studied under Koch’s rival Louis Pasteur, became the first to create a cholera vaccine. He did so after cultivating Vibrio cholerae and working with the live germs.

Ferrán became the first to do a mass-vaccination as well.

He used the vaccine to help 50,000 people in Spain during a major cholera epidemic. Later, he also created vaccinations for plague, tetanus, typhus and tuberculosis.

Two scientists, Sawtschenko and Sabolotny, and their students experimented with a killed cholera bacteria “broth” in 1893. The vaccine proved successful in in prevent cholera against exposure, but impractical. The “broth” required too many high doses to be preventive.

Further research and trials continued later in India during the early 1900s. Dried organism tablets were the focus but were not as successful as former vaccines. The cost and difficulty in their preparation was overwhelming.

Other clues about the bacteria created a gradual understanding of the disease.

Scientists isolated a new serogoup named El Tor that caused 400,000 cases. The O139 Bengal serogroup was also found in India and Bangladesh in 1992.

These findings added to the understanding and complexity of cholera. It also created a new desire and push for the vaccine throughout the 1980s and ’90s.

This new focus on a possible vaccine produced crucial research for the scientists.

They examined the idea of basic immunity after exposure to cholera. From the ’80s onward, many new vaccines were developed and licensed. Trials popped up all over the world. Everywhere from Sweden and Bangladesh to Peru and the Netherlands saw experiments.

These tests expanded knowledge on the theory of herd protection. Herd protection illustrated that vaccines could help both direct recipients and surrounding neighbors.

Travelers going to at-risk areas have benefited from advance protection against cholera. This is particularly necessary considering the rise in cholera outbreaks and epidemics.

While early vaccines relied on high doses, modern day immunizations are more efficient.

Vaxchora, the vaccine currently in use, only needs a single 100mL dose, protecting against the Vibrio cholerae serogroup 01. Taken 10 days or more before a trip, the immunization can reduce chances of cholera by 90 percent.

Even with modern advancements, vaccines are not the only ways to avoid cholera. Travelers should stay vigilant against contaminated food or water.

Do you have any questions about the cholera vaccine? Let us know in the comments below, or via Facebook and Twitter.

Written for Passport Health by Katherine Meikle. Katherine is a freelance writer and proud first-generation British-American living in Florida, where she was born and raised. She has a passion for travel and a love of writing, which go hand-in-hand.

Filed Under: General Posts

About Us

Passport Health's blog provides travelers and travel enthusiasts with a variety of news and features. We focus on bringing the most interesting and relevant stories right to our readers. Topics range from the vaccines needed for a destination to updates on recent outbreaks, travel advice and much more. Feel free to check out some of our most popular posts, linked in the sidebar, or our most recent posts below
Stay Updated! Sign up to receive email updates from our blog.

Recent Blog Posts

  • How Does Measles Spread? A New Study Gives Answers
  • The Necessary and Unfortunate Identity of “Patient Zero”
  • What Was The Plague of Justinian? How A Single Outbreak Killed 10% Of The World’s Population.
  • Tips To Stay Safe While Traveling Alone

Blog Archives

  • About Us
  • Clinical Trials
  • Contact Us
  • PIPEDA Policy and Consent Form
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Sitemap
Schedule Your Appointment:
Questions? Please call or E-mail Us

Connect With Us:

Passport Health Canada on Facebook
Passport Health on Twitter
Passport Health on YouTube
Passport Health on Instagram
Passport Health on Linked In
Passport Health Feed

Passport Health is an Outlier business Passport Health es una empresa que pertenece al grupo OutlierPassport Health est une entreprise du groupe Outlier Copyright © 2021

This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve functionality and performance. By continuing to browse this site, you are consenting to the use of cookies illustrated in our cookie policy.Accept