There’s not much time to contemplate the stark contrast between the squeaky clean operating rooms of Vancouver and the dusty tent I am now working in, surrounded by Samburu children clinging on to life while their bodies are gripped by cholera, causing violent bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. Buckets of putrid green bodily fluids stand in the corner awaiting proper disposal and the smell pervades everything.
I arrived towards the end of this cholera epidemic; my colleagues have a haunted look in their eyes as they describe the helplessness and feeling of being overwhelmed as more and more people contracted this terrible disease. Luckily they were able to help most with oral and intravenous fluids as well as antibiotics, but many still died, mostly children.
When this visit was planned a year ago, my goal was to run a surgical camp to treat trachoma, conduct a randomised trial into the best surgical technique for the cicatricial entropion caused by trachoma and strengthen our education program on hygiene and environmental improvement. However this is Africa and things rarely go to plan.
The hallmark of cholera is violent vomiting and diarrhea leaving the patient dangerously dehydrated requiring intravenous fluids
