The risk of a cholera outbreak in the south and east of Ukraine is higher than in other regions of the country, infectious disease doctor Olha Bonkovska has said.

"A greater risk of cholera outbreaks is still noted in the south and east of Ukraine. These regions are at high risk for a cholera epidemic," she said on the Expert Club YouTube channel on Wednesday, July 5.

In a commentary about the risks of cholera outbreaks following the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) dam, Bonkovska stressed the danger of the disease, in particular, due to the fact that "cholera begins as an ordinary intestinal infection and initially it is impossible to identify whether it is cholera or an ordinary intestinal infection."

"I do not recommend self-treatment because it can help if it is an ordinary intestinal infection but if it is cholera, there is no way you can recover from cholera at home," she said.

The expert recalled that dehydration is the main manifestation of cholera.

"Sharp dehydration in a person can cause a shock with the loss of all functions of the body, kidneys and heart, which may end up with death," she said.

The doctor emphasized that in case of cholera "the fluid loss gains such a scale that a person is simply unable to replenish the fluid loss with water."

"The rate of water excretion from the body exceeds the rate of absorption of water during oral rehydration, and in-patient medical care is required to replenish water," she said.

According to Bonkovska, to protect themselves against cholera, people in the flooding-affected regions should, first of all, drink either bottled water or boiled water or water purified with special tablets, use bottled of cooled boiled water to wash fruit and vegetables, wash or disinfect hands with sanitizers, get rid of the habit to put hands in the mouth – take the rule 'Hands Off Your Mouth!' as an axiom.

In addition, the infectious disease doctor recommends to refrain from eating with hands or "at least hold a sandwich or any other meal with a clean napkin" as well as refuse from eating shrimps or fish without prior thermal processing and swim only in the water reservoirs where swimming is permitted.

The expert stressed that self-treatment of acute intestinal infections with antibiotics is unacceptable.

"I do not recommend to start the treatment of diarrhea on your own at home. It is better to call for medical care," she said.