Robert Koch was a German scientist. He was born in 1843 and died in 1910. He won the Nobel prize for medicine for discovering the bacteria which cause TB, cholera and anthrax. Research Robert Koch
Cholera is an acute, infectious, often fatal disease caused by the micro organism Vibrio cholerae. It is endemic in India and some other tropical countries and occasionally spreading to temperate climates. The symptoms of cholera are diarrhoea and the loss of water and salts in the stool.
In its more ordinary form it commences with sickness, vomiting, or perhaps two or three loose evacuations of the bowels; after which follow a sense of burning at the praecordia, an increased purging and vomiting of a white or colourless fluid, great prostration of strength, spasms at the extremities, which increase in violence with the vomiting and purging. Such cases may last from twelve to thirty- six hours; after this the patient generally sinks into a state of extreme collapse, and this stage in most cases passes by a gradualtransition into a febrile one, which in a majority of instances proves fatal. Sometimes the patient is suddenly stricken down and dies, collapsed within a few hours without diarrhoea or vomiting.
In severe cholera, the patient develops violent diarrhoea with characteristic 'rice-water stools,' vomiting, thirst, muscle cramps, and sometimes circulatory collapse. Death can occur as quickly as a few hours after the onset of symptoms. The mortality rate is more than 50 percent in untreated cases, but falls to less than 1 percent with proper treatment. Treatment consists mainly of intravenous or oral replacement of fluids and salts. Packets for dilution containing the correct mixture of sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, and glucose have been made widely available by the WHO. Most patients recover in three to six days. Antibiotics such as tetracyclines, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole can shorten the duration of the disease, but have their own long term risks in damage to the immune system.
Cholera first appeared (in recognised form) in Europe in 1829, and reached Britain in 1831, spreading thence to America. Western Europe was again visited by it in 1847, 1853, 1865, 1873, 1875, and in 1885. In 1892 Russia and Western Europe suffered severely.
By 1905 it was ascertained that the primary and essential element in the production of cholera was a constituent of the excreta of cholera patients. At the time it wasn't known what the agent was, but that it is an organism capable of propagating itself when it is taken into the alimentarycanal in food, impure water, or the like, was beyond a doubt. Dr. Koch asserted that the essential cause was a bacillus, having the form of a curved rod, hence then called the comma bacillus, and that the disease was caused by the multiplication of this organism in the small intestines.
A method of protective inoculation against cholera was tried in India, with some success around 1900. At the same time it was established that the contagion of cholera is not so likely to be conveyed by personal intercourse as by residence in an infected district. Sanitary measures proved to be the only efficacious means of arresting an epidemic; insanitary conditions decidedly favour it - quite obvious as the disease is spread through contact with infected faeces.
What is called British cholera is a bilious disease, long known in most countries, and is characterized by copious vomiting and purging, with violent griping, cramps of the muscles of the abdomen and lower extremities, and great depression of strength. It is most prevalent at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. Cholera infantum (infants' cholera) is the name sometimes given to a severe and dangerous diarrhoea to which infants are liable in hot climates or in the hot season. Research Cholera
The Heckler and Koch HK53 is a compact German delayed blowback selective fire assaultrifle or sub-machine-gun. The HK53 is chambered for the 5.56 mm NATOcartridge and takes a 25 or 30-round magazine. It has a cyclic rate of 700 rounds-per-minute automatic with three-round burst and semi-automatic single shot operations selectable, and a muzzle velocity of 735 metres per second and an effective range of 400 metres. The Heckler and Koch HK53 has a retractable butt and a 225 mm long barrel. It is fitted with a post foresight and a rearsight comprising a V battle sight at 100 metres with apertures for 200, 300 and 400 metres. Research Heckler and Koch HK53
The 1003 aiming projector is a German, lightweight illuminating source sometimes fitted to the Heckler and Koch MP5sub-machine-gun. The 1003 aiming projector consists of a 100-watt halogenquartzbulb in a metal lamp and a 12-volt, 4.5 amp battery. In use the 1003 aiming projector allows illumination of a target at ranges of up to 100 metres in total darkness, with a light bright enough to dazzle the target, for a period not exceeding ten seconds during which six aimed shots may be fired before the light is turned off and the firers position changed. Research 1003 Aiming Projector
The Battle of Elandsaagte took place on October 21st 1899 during the 2nd Boer War when the British under General French drove a strong force of Boers from their position, capturing the leader, General Koch. Research Battle of Elandsaagte
The Heckler and Koch G3 is a German delayed blowback selective fire assaultrifle produced in 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm calibres fed from a 20-round box magazine. The rate of fire is selectable between single-shotsemi-automatic and fully automatic at a rate of 600 rounds-per-minute. The muzzle velocity is 800 metres per second and the G3 has an effective range of 400 metres. The G3 has a 450 mm long barrel and is fitted with a post foresight and a rearsight comprising a U battle sight at 100 metres and apertures for 200, 300 and 400 metres. The standard G3 is fitted with a plasticbutt stock and is known as the G3 A3, a retractable butt model is known as the G3 A4. Research G3
The Heckler and Koch G11 is a German sub-machine-gun. It was designed to be the German Police standard weapon during the 1990s, but politics prevented that happening. It takes special caseless cartridges in 4.7 mm calibre from a 50-round magazine and has variable rates of fire, including three-round bursts which can deliver 2000 rounds per minute. Research Heckler and Koch G11
The Heckler and Koch G41 is a German light machine-gun. It is an improved HK33, produced from 1983, specifically for the NATO standard 5.56 mm cartridge. It incorporates the low-noise bolt closing device first used on the PSG 1 sniping rifle. It uses the standard NATO magazine interface, accepting M16 and similar magazines and has NATO standard sight mounts for day or night optical sights. It comes in two models, one with a fixed and the other with a folding stock. The rate of fire is 850 rounds per minute. Research Heckler and Koch G41
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Abbreviations
Research Robert Koch
