A long historical awareness exists regarding the association between heavy ALCOHOL use and an increased risk or severity of symptoms caused by infectious diseases. In the United States, this awareness can be traced back to the medical literature of the late 1700s. It continues to evolve in ongoing research. Historically, most infectious diseases were viral and bacterial and caused death, such as tuberculosis. Some intestinal diseases have been also noted, especially cholera. This is an acute infectious disease of epedemic proportion caused by Vibrio cholerae (a gram-negative bacillus) that produces a soluble toxin in the intestinal tract, with profuse watery diarrhea, extreme loss of fluid and electrolytes, and a state of dehydration and collapse with death often following.

Modern research in immunosuppressed humans and animals has isolated a protozoan parasite, Cryptosporidium parvum, that affects the gastrointestinal tract. In...