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Whooping Cough
Medical Questions » Whooping Cough
| Name: Whooping Cough |
| Also known as: Pertussis |
| A preventable bacterial infection of the respiratory tract that is very serious in children. A much milder form of the disease (parapertussis) is also known, against which the pertussis vaccine gives no protection. |
Causes of Whooping Cough
The bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which is widespread in the community. In adults an infection merely has the symptoms of a cold, but in young children the disease is more severe. Spreads from person to person in the microscopic droplets exhaled or coughed out in the breath of a patient, so an adult with minimal symptoms may carry the disease from one infant to another. The incubation period is one to two weeks. |
Symptoms of Whooping Cough
Starts in a child as a cold that lasts a week or two, but then the cough becomes steadily more severe and occurs in increasingly distressing spasms, characterized by a sudden intake of breath before each cough. Coughing spasms may last up to 30 minutes, and leave the child exhausted, then another spasm starts after only a few minutes. As the infection worsens, the child may become blue, lose consciousness, and thick stringy mucus is coughed up and vomited. The patient has no appetite and rapidly loses weight. Severe coughing may cause bleeding in the lungs, throat and nose, that may be severe enough to cause suffocation. If the child survives, the spasms start to ease off after a few weeks, but mild recurrences may occur for months. |
Tests for Whooping Cough
Diagnosed by analysis of a sputum sample. |
Treatment for Whooping Cough
No cure available, but may be completely prevented by a vaccination that is combined with those for tetanus and diphtheria (see separate entries). Usually given at two, four, six and 18 months, and again at five years of age. Treatment involves oxygen, sedatives and careful nursing, isolated within a hospital for several weeks. Antibiotics can prevent the spread of the disease to others.
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Complications of Whooping Cough of its treatment
Permanent lung damage possible. |
Likely Outcome of Whooping Cough
In good hospitals about 2% die, and up to 10% have long term complications. In poorer countries, the mortality rate is much higher. |
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