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Pertussis Disease

Pertussis is an illness in children that is much less common than it used to be, due to regular vaccination from the disease. Its more common name, whooping cough, is attributed to the type of cough that comes with the illness. Since the vaccine is so widely available, most children will never have to experience it, but it does still occur in unvaccinated children, so parents need to be aware of its symptoms and prevention.

• Prevention—
Before the vaccine was readily available, annual deaths caused by whooping cough in children were 5000 to 10000 every single year. Since vaccination has become the norm, that number has decreased dramatically to about 30 per year. This implies that vaccination early has a lot to do with the decreased number, so the best prevention method is to have your child vaccinated as early as possible. If your child has not been vaccinated and they come in contact with someone who has whooping cough, you will need to get antibiotics from a doctor to prevent (or try to prevent) your child from catching it.

• Symptoms—
In the beginning, the symptoms will be similar to that of the common cold, including a runny nose, low fever, mild cough, etc. After a week or two, this will lead into worse coughing. The child will begin to have coughing spells that last for a long time and contain a dry cough that makes a whooping sound. The coughing spells can be so bad that the child may turn red or purple while coughing, or they may vomit afterwards. Infants with the disease don’t always make the whooping sound when they cough, but may appear as though they are having a hard time getting their breath, and they may turn red while coughing, similar to older children.

• Treatment—
Treatment for pertussis usually involves oral antibiotics, as well as over the counter medications for relief, such as cough medicines. The illness, after medication has begun, usually lasts a couple of weeks, but some children have taken months to completely overcome it.

• Contagiousness—
Whooping cough is a very contagious disease. If your child has been vaccinated and their shots are up to date, then your child should be immune to it. But, if they were never vaccinated, they can easily catch it. If they haven’t has five shots of the vaccine, they may need a booster shot to be completely immune.

Adults can catch pertussis, as well, so if your child has it, the adults who have not been immunized against it will need to take antibiotics, as well. The contagiousness stops after the child has been taking antibiotics for at least five days. Until this time, they should be kept home from school and out of public places.

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