An acute, infectious disease characterized by profuse diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. Cholera is spread by feces-contaminated water and food. It was common among the poor and in hand-fed babies. Death frequently occurred in three to five days. Saint Vitus' dance.
Infantile colic is benign paroxysmal abdominal pain during the first three months of life.
Colic rarely caused death. Renal colic can occur from disease in the kidney, gallstone colic from a stone in the bile duct. An excessive or abnormal accumulation of blood or other fluid in a body part or blood vessel. In congestive fever the internal organs become gorged with blood. Severe contortion of the body caused by violent, involuntary muscular contractions of the extremities, trunk, and head.