Global health R&D at work in New Hampshire
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that can kill within hours. Highly contagious, the disease is spread mainly by contaminated food and water. The disease has been around since ancient times, yet it remains a threat in many parts of the world. There are vaccines to prevent it; Since 2013, more than 15 million doses have been used in mass vaccination campaigns. But there is no cure. There remains millions of cases each year and an estimated 21,000 to 143,000 deaths from the disease. Researchers at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine are working to end that. Their unique approach is to look at ways to turn off the genes that make cholera dangerous to humans. The drug therapy under development at Dartmouth aims not to kill the bacteria, but to render them harmless, making them less likely to mutate and become resistant to the drug.