• Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious disease marked by severe coughing. It is named after the "whoop" sound children and adults make when they try to breathe in during or after a severe coughing spell.

What are the Symptoms?

• Whooping cough usually starts with cold or flu-like symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, fever and a mild cough. These symptoms can last up to two weeks and are followed by increasingly severe coughing spells. Fever, if present, is usually mild.
• During a classic cough episode:
  • signature "whoop" is heard as the patient struggles to breathe
  • coughs usually produce a thick, productive mucus
  • vomiting may occur
  • lips and nails may turn blue due to lack of oxygen
  • patient is left exhausted after the coughing spell
• Mild pertussis disease is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic those of a cold. Usually a prolonged cough is present, but without the "whoop"
• Milder symptoms usually affect all age groups, but are increasing among school children.
• The coughing attacks may last for many months in the "classic illness" or just a few days in the mild form of the disease.
• Symptoms appear between 6 to 21 days (average 7-10) after exposure to the bacteria.

What are Some Potential Complications?

• Pneumonia is the most common complication and cause of infantile pertussis-related deaths.
• Young infants are at highest risk for pertussis-related complications, including seizures, encephalopathy (swelling of the brain), otitis media (severe ear infection), anorexia (severe restriction of food intake) and dehydration.

How is it Spread?

• Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria that is found in the mouth, nose and throat of an infected person, and is spread through close contact with when an infected person talks, sneezes, or coughs.
• It is most contagious during the first two to three weeks of infection, often before the beginning of severe coughing spells.
• Schools and day care centers are also a common source of infection in children.
• Older children, adolescents, adults and parents who may be harboring the disease in their nose or throat can spread the infection to infants and young children in the household.

Who Gets It?

• Whooping cough (pertussis) can occur at any age, but infants and young children are at highest risk of life-threatening consequences.
• Recent outbreaks have shown that adolescents and older children carry the disease, which in its milder form is hard to recognize. Undiagnosed mild disease contributes to the spread of the illness among infants and young children.
• Persons with mild pertussis can transmit the illness to unimmunized and partially immunized infants and young children who are more susceptible to severe illness and complications, such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and pertussis-related seizures.
• Anyone--particularly infants and young children--who are unimmunized are at a higher risk for severe whooping cough.

• Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics and patients are advised to take all prescribed medication and avoid contact with anyone, particularly small infants and children.
• Ask your healthcare provider for treatment options if you think your child may have pertussis.

• While there is no lifelong protection against pertussis, immunization is the best preventive measure for your child. The vaccine to protect your child against whooping cough is the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine and should be administered in 5 doses: at 2, 4, 6, and 15-18 months of age and 4 - 6 years of age. It is very important that your child receives all 5 doses for maximum protection.
• Consult your healthcare provider to be sure your child has been vaccinated.
  

courtesy of pertussis.com and posted on kidsgrowth 1-24-05