Oral Therapy in Cholera

To the Editor: Although Palmer and his co-workers (N Engl J Med 297:1107–1110, 1977) found that sucrose can replace glucose in oral sugar-electrolyte therapy of cholera, it is interesting that failure to maintain adequate rehydration was more common at the high stool rates, particularly above 20 ml per kilogram per hour. We have recently studied glucose, water and sodium absorption from isotonic solutions containing 55.5 mM (1 per cent) glucose plus 122 mM sodium, and 28 mM (1 per cent) maltose plus 122 mM sodium in the proximal jejunum in seven normal volunteers. Using a double-lumen-tube perfusion technic, with polyethylene. . .