( CNN ) -- Cholera is an intestinal infection that 's rare in the United States currently . But in the developing world it 's a serious problem , with 3 to 5 million cases every year worldwide , according to the World Health Organization . The disease brings on diarrhea , which can kill a person if he or she is not properly hydrated . A tremendous advance in hydration was invented by David Nalin , along with his colleague Richard Cash . Nalin was working in Bangladesh during a cholera epidemic in 1968 , when intravenous solutions were the only treatment . He knew that an oral method of rehydration would be much more accessible and cost-effective for the people who needed it most . This idea had been around before . Other doctors had tried oral methods but failed because they had the wrong proportions , and because they were focused on trying to give every person the same `` magic bullet '' dosage of therapy . Nalin recognized that the volume of oral rehydration therapy required is n't the same for every patient . Individual losses need to be replaced with equal volumes of the absorbable solution . What exactly did he deliver to patients ? Essentially , a mixture of salt , water and sugar in the right proportions . This simple idea has saved millions of lives -- not just from cholera , but from any diarrhea . The Lancet , a prestigious British medical journal , called this `` potentially the most important medical advance of this century . '' `` The devastating conditions suffered by the Bangladeshi refugees as they fled the war with Pakistan offered ORT ( oral rehydration therapy ) its definitive test , '' according to an August 2003 paper published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases . `` When the medical team ran out of intravenous fluids at the camp , oral glucose-salt packets were used to treat ( more than ) 3,000 patients , resulting in a reduction in the mortality rate from 30 % to only 3.6 % , '' the journal said . CNN 's Edythe McNamee contributed to this report .
There are up to 5 million cases of cholera every year . It can kill those who are n't properly hydrated . Vladimir Nalin developed the first solution in 1968 .