Whooping Cough or Pertussis

What is Pertussis, or whooping cough?

It is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis that lives in the mouth, nose and throat of an infected person.

Who gets pertussis?

Pertussis can occur in people of all ages. Pertussis is most severe in infants less than one year old.  More than half of these infants who get the disease must be hospitalized. Older children and adults can also get pertussis as protection against pertussis decreases over time, but it is usually not as serious. Many infants who get pertussis catch it from their older brothers and sisters, or from their parents or other caregiver who might not even know they have the disease.

How do people get pertussis?

Pertussis is very easily spread from person to person, especially before coughing starts. A person can spread pertussis up to three weeks after symptoms appear. When an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes, the bacteria are released into the air and enter another person’s body through the nose, mouth or throat. People can also become sick if they come in contact with the mucus or saliva (spit) from an infected person.

What are the symptoms of pertussis?

The first symptoms of pertussis are like the common cold and include:

•       Sneezing

•       Coughing

•       Runny nose

•       Fever

After about a week:

·       the cough becomes more serious with episodes of rapid uncontrollable coughing spasms followed by a high pitched “whoop” sound when the person tries to take a breath.

·       The coughing spasm may also be followed by gagging or vomiting.

·       Young babies and some adults may not “whoop.” 

·       These coughing spells can make breathing, eating and sleeping very hard.

·       They may have difficulty breathing after a coughing bout and may turn blue or grey (young infants).

·       They may bring up a thick mucus, which can make them vomit. 

·       They may become very red in the face (more common in adults). 

·       A final recovery stage with coughing may last weeks or months.

 

Babies under 6 months old with whooping cough have an increased chance of having problems such as:

•       dehydration

•       breathing difficulties

•       pneumonia

•       seizures (fits)

Whooping cough is less severe in older children and adults but coughing may cause problems including:

•       sore ribs

•       hernia

•       middle ear infections

•       pee leaking out when you cough (urinary incontinence)

How is pertussis diagnosed?

A health care provider will observe the signs and symptoms and collect a sample of saliva from the throat for laboratory testing.

What is the treatment for pertussis?

Treatment for whooping cough depends on your age and how long you've had the infection. Hospital treatment is usually needed if you have severe whooping cough, or your baby is under 6 months old and has whooping cough.

If whooping cough is diagnosed within 3 weeks of the infection, you'll be given antibiotics to help stop it spreading to others. Antibiotics may not reduce symptoms.

If you've had whooping cough for more than 3 weeks, you're no longer contagious and do not need antibiotics.

Important:  Keep taking the antibiotics until you've completed the course, even if you feel better. Stopping treatment too soon could lead to the infection coming back.

How long whooping cough is contagious

If you have whooping cough, you're contagious from about 6 days after the start of cold-like symptoms to 3 weeks after the coughing starts.

If you start antibiotics within 3 weeks of starting to cough, it will reduce the time you're contagious for. 

Important:    Stay out of school for 5 days after starting antibiotics, or 3 weeks after symptoms started if you've not had antibiotics.

How to ease the symptoms of whooping cough:

There are some things you can do to help ease the symptoms of whooping cough.

Do

•       get plenty of rest

•       drink lots of fluids

Don’t

•       for a child under 16 always check first with a GP before giving paracetamol and/or  ibuprofen.  Do not give them at the same time.

•       do not give aspirin to children under 16

•       do not take cough medicines – they're not suitable for young children and do not help with this type of cough

Please report any cases of whooping cough/pertussis to the School Nurse (847) 385-2014 or email me at nurse@christianliberty.com

Final note: For those that prefer a holistic approach to treatment you may like this article:

https://deeprootsathome.com/vitamin-c-for-whooping-cough-by-suzanne-humphries-md/

and methods to reduce fever without using OTC medication:

https://deeprootsathome.com/fever-attack-dog/

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