The significance of cholera outbreak in the prognosis of pregnancy.

Five hundred sixty-one persons were treated in a comprehensive cholera unit during the 1979-1980 cholera outbreak at Ile-Ife. Sixty-one pregnant cholera patients were identified and followed up. Compared to the general female population, all female cholera patients in the 15-29 year age group show significantly more resistance to the disease than those aged 30 years and above. The pregnant cases, as well as all reproductive-years age groups, showed significantly less mortality than both the non-pregnant patients and those at both extremes of age. Our findings show that pregnancy does not render the woman more susceptible and may, in fact, render her less susceptible after the first trimester, when prognosis brightens for both the mother and the fetus.