ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of socio-economic and demographic factors that influence human vulnerability to incidence of cholera and dysentery. It focuses on the implications for human vulnerability to disease of seasonal change, population movement, forced displacement, and changing structural contexts. The patterns of infection take on a seasonal dimension because there is a direct association between agricultural productivity and biological vulnerability for communities dependent on primary subsistence. Non-uniformity of space guiding the diffusion of cholera and dysentery includes differences in environmental influence on Vibrio cholerae and possibly Shigellae spp., and variations in climate, settlement patterns, social and economic well-being, and culture. Specific hazards for the prevention and treatment of diarrhoea may emerge with transitions in infrastructure and health care provision towards the private sector if the poorer sectors of communities, often representing the foci of infectious diseases, are priced out of obtaining facilities and treatment, and ostracised from participating in decision making.
