BK Live

Information on Whooping Cough

Whooping cough - or pertussis - is an infection of the respiratory system caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (or B. pertussis). It’s characterized by severe coughing spells that end in a “whooping” sound when the person breathes in. Before a vaccine was available, pertussis killed 5,000 to 10,000 people in the United States each year. Now, the pertussis vaccine has reduced the annual number of deaths to less than 30.

Whooping cough — known medically as pertussis — is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. Although it initially resembles an ordinary cold, whooping cough may eventually turn more serious, particularly in infants. In the more advanced stages, it’s marked by a severe, hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like “whoop.”

This disease attacks in an innocuous manner. The incubation period is about 5 to 14 days. Your child will display symptoms like a runny nose, a cough and a slight temperature. This can go on for as long as two weeks. Your child will have severe paroxysms of coughing and may find it difficult to breathe. This is how the disease gets its name as this is when the typical “whoop” occurs.

Despite the widespread use of vaccines, whooping cough has made a comeback in recent years. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), prior to the introduction of the pertussis vaccine, there was an average of 175,000 cases of whooping cough each year. This dropped off to fewer than 3,000 cases per year in the 1980s; however, in the U.S. alone, a total of 25,827 cases of pertussis were reported in 2004. This was a huge increase compared to the only 8,296 cases reported in 2002.

Whooping cough commonly affects infants and young children but can be prevented by immunization with pertussis vaccine. Pertussis vaccine is most commonly given in combination with the vaccines for diphtheria and tetanus. (Pertussis is the “P” in the DTaP combination inoculation routinely given to children, and the “p” in the Tdap vaccine administered to adolescents and adults.) Since immunity from the pertussis vaccine wears off with time, many teenagers and adults get whooping cough.

Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria (Bordetella pertussis) and is one of the most contagious bacterial infections.If one child in a group of siblings gets it, the other children are extremely likely to become infected if they have not already had the disease or been vaccinated. This also includes babies. Although infants who are breastfed are usually protected against most common childhood infections, they receive no protection against whooping cough.

Major Symptoms (usually from 2 weeks onwards). Attacks of a choking cough that lasts from 1 to 2 minutes, often with vomiting, severe facial congestions and a feeling or appearance of suffocation. Between these attacks of coughing the sufferer appears and usually feels perfectly well.These choking attacks of coughing happen as little as twice a day or as many as fifty. Between attacks (’paroxysms’ is the technical name) the sufferer may not cough at all.’Whooping’ is a noise that comes from the voice box after a paroxysm when the sufferer is suddenly able to take a breath in again.

Read about home remedies, natural remedies, home remedy .Read about health care, beauty tips makeup tips and home remedies

Information on Whooping Cough / Author: peterhutch

Bookmark: