The risk for cholera infection is >100 times higher for household
contacts of cholera patients during the week after the
index patient seeks hospital care than it is for the general
population. To initiate a standard of care for this high-risk
population, we developed Cholera-Hospital-Based-Intervention-
for-7-Days (CHoBI7), which promotes hand washing
with soap and treatment of water. To test CHoBI7, we
conducted a randomized controlled trial among 219 intervention
household contacts of 82 cholera patients and 220
control contacts of 83 cholera patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
during 2013–2014. Intervention contacts had significantly
fewer symptomatic Vibrio cholerae infections than did
control contacts and 47% fewer overall V. cholerae infections.
Intervention households had no stored drinking water
with V. cholerae and 14 times higher odds of hand washing
with soap at key events during structured observation on
surveillance days 5, 6, or 7. CHoBI7 presents a promising
approach for controlling cholera among highly susceptible
household contacts of cholera patients.