Repeat whooping cough. infectious diseases

Content:

Where does whooping cough come from? How can a person get infected with it?

The causative agent of whooping cough is a microbe (bacterium), which in medicine is called Bordetella pertussis(bordetella pertusis).

Once in the human body, this bacterium produces toxins (poisonous substances), which cause severe inflammation and irritation of the surface of the respiratory tract. Outwardly, this is manifested by prolonged bouts of painful, dry cough.

In the course of epidemiological studies, it was found that the infection that causes whooping cough can only spread among people. For this reason, a healthy person (adult or child) can only get whooping cough from another person who has the disease.

As will be shown below in the chapter on whooping cough symptoms, quite often in adolescents and adults this disease is mild, in which the person has only a mild cough. People who get this form of whooping cough often believe that they have a common cold and therefore rarely go to the doctor, and even in those cases when they do go to the doctor, they are not always prescribed tests that can establish this infection. Because of this, people with whooping cough can spend many weeks infecting other people around them with whooping cough, not knowing that they are spreading a dangerous infection.

Whooping cough is transmitted by airborne droplets. This means that a healthy person can contract this infection by inhaling particles of mucus and saliva that are released into the air when a sick person sneezes or coughs.

It is believed that for infection with whooping cough it is enough:

• Stay in the same room with a sick person for more than 1 hour;
• Contact with saliva, sputum or secretions from the nose of a sick person;
• Talk to a sick person from a distance of less than 1 meter;

How long is the incubation period for whooping cough?

Incubation period Incubation period- this is the period of time between the moment the infection enters the human body and the moment the first symptoms of the disease appear.
For many viral infections of the respiratory tract, such as influenza, the incubation period is 1-3 days (that is, the first symptoms of the disease appear 1-3 days after exposure to the virus). For other infections, the incubation period can vary from a few days (rarely hours) to weeks, months, or years. with whooping cough it can last from 5-7 days to 3 weeks.

When does a person with whooping cough become contagious and how long does it remain contagious?

A person with whooping cough becomes contagious as soon as the coughing fits start and may remain contagious for the next 2 to 4 weeks, or even longer if not treated with antibiotics.

People who start antibiotic treatment (see below for which antibiotics are active against whooping cough) are no longer contagious within the first 5 days of treatment.

How long should a child be kept at home?

If your child gets whooping cough, they need to stay at home and not attend kindergarten or school (quarantine) for at least 5 days if they are receiving antibiotics, and at least 3 weeks if they are not receiving antibiotics.

Why do adults and children who have been vaccinated against this disease get sick with whooping cough?

The whooping cough vaccine is medically known as DTP.

According to the national vaccination schedules adopted in Russia and in many other countries, DPT vaccination is given to children in the form of 4 doses, aged 3 months, 4.5 months, 6 months and 1.5 years.

Observations of large groups of children who received all 4 doses of DTP showed that this vaccine is really effective and makes about 80-85% of children who received it immune to whooping cough (in the remaining 15-20% of children, the vaccine forms immunity, allowing the development of only mild forms of the disease ).

However, studies have shown that immunity against whooping cough does not last for life, but only for a period of 4 to 12 years after the last dose of vaccination.

It is for this reason that many children (and especially adults) can get whooping cough again (in a milder form than people who have never received the vaccine) several years after vaccination and become spreaders of this infection.

In this regard, in some countries, DTP vaccination is recommended not only for children, but also for adolescents (aged 11-12 years) and adults (especially pregnant women).

What are the symptoms and signs of whooping cough?

The symptoms and signs of whooping cough depend on the age of the affected person, whether they have been vaccinated against the disease, and what treatment they receive. We will explain this in detail below.

The first symptoms of whooping cough often resemble those of a common cold: runny nose, slight fever (up to 38.5 C), sore throat, occasional cough, and malaise.

1-2 weeks after the onset of these symptoms, when it seems to a person that he has already almost recovered, the main symptom of whooping cough appears: a dry, choking cough that comes in the form of attacks lasting for 1-2 minutes.

Whooping cough attacks can recur several times an hour and are especially common at night.

Whooping cough can be so severe that after a few bouts, the sick person may vomit or pass out.

In medicine, cases are also described when, during a strong cough, a person's ribs broke.

When the coughing fit subsides, a person infected with whooping cough may look normal and feel practically healthy.

A few weeks after the onset of the disease, the cough begins to subside. In general, whooping cough cough can persist for up to 6-10 weeks or even more.

In children and adults who have been vaccinated against whooping cough, this disease can develop in the so-called "atypical" or "erased" form, in which the sick person is only bothered by a dry cough (no runny nose, no fever), lasting several weeks. It should be noted that even with “erased” forms of whooping cough, despite the mild development of the disease, a sick person can infect other people around him (including children who do not yet have immunity to this infection and who can get sick with more severe forms of this disease). ).

Symptoms and signs of whooping cough in young children

Most often, newborns, infants and children of the first years of life become infected with whooping cough from their parents, brothers or sisters, who fell ill with an erased form of the disease and are unaware that they are the source of the infection.

Let's try to find answers to some of them together.

How is whooping cough transmitted?

How can you get whooping cough? Do I need to be in close proximity to the patient to do this?

Whooping cough is transmitted exclusively by airborne droplets. Moreover, outside the body, the bacteria that cause it die very quickly under the influence of direct sunlight, so the distance to the patient should be minimal. Another option for infection is a long stay in the same room with other children, some of whom may be carriers of the bacteria. But if you have concerns, it is better to contact the district pediatrician or a specialized clinic. Modern diagnostic methods allow you to determine the presence of an infection in the body in minutes.

It largely depends on which drug is used. In the DPT (adsorbed pertussis-diphtheria-tetanus) vaccine familiar to many mothers, recommended for use in the Russian Federation, it is as follows: your child will receive four vaccinations in infancy: 3; 4.5; 6 and 18 months. Two more - at 7 and 14 years old. And then - re-vaccination of adults every 10 years. For them, ADS or ADS-M preparations are used, in which there is no pertussis component.

risk of recurrence

What is the probability that a child who has been ill once again “receives” the same diagnosis and begins to cough heavily? Is it safe to be in the same apartment with him?

Pediatricians are aware of cases of re-infection, but they are extremely rare. Children diagnosed with whooping cough in the Russian Federation receive standard and highly effective treatment. As a result, their immunity begins to produce specific antibodies that fight the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Therefore, if a previously ill child is worried about coughing, it is almost 100% likely not caused by whooping cough. And if there are other children next to him in the apartment, then they have practically no chance of getting whooping cough.

Is it possible to make a diagnosis of whooping cough without additional research?

In the initial stage of development, this is extremely unlikely: whooping cough can be easily confused with SARS or bronchitis. Because of this, therapeutic measures do not bring any noticeable result, and the general condition of the child remains quite satisfactory. When whooping cough passes into a spasmodic stage, in which external manifestations become more pronounced, the correct diagnosis does not present any difficulties.

What happens if whooping cough is not treated: complications

Is it true that the greatest risk to health is not the disease itself, but the complications after it? Why do doctors often insist on hospitalization even when the child's condition is quite satisfactory?

Stabilization of the temperature regime, a general improvement in well-being and a significant decrease in the severity of coughing attacks do not mean that the child has recovered. Whooping cough is a very insidious infection, so you need to approach the doctor's recommendations with all possible responsibility. The body of a baby who has barely survived a serious illness will not be able to effectively resist the infection, since the immune system is extremely weakened. Moreover, the slightest violation of the regimen can provoke complications that are extremely dangerous for health and life, which are often not related to the lungs or the ear-nose-throat zone.

• Protracted bronchitis.
• Pneumonia.
• Otitis.
• Spasm of the bronchi or blood vessels.
• Pertussis encephalopathy. This is a severe lesion of the central nervous system, manifested by fainting, convulsions, visual and hearing impairments. If you notice any of these symptoms, seek medical attention as soon as possible.
• Hernia and prolapse of the rectum. The hacking, heavy cough is to blame for this, which can significantly increase intra-abdominal pressure.
• Atelectasis (collapse of the alveoli) of the lung. This condition often develops very quickly and leads to acute respiratory failure. How to deal with it? Call an ambulance immediately.
• Stroke and retinal detachment. Such conditions are explained by sharp pressure surges that occur as a result of a strong cough attack. The likelihood of such complications is extremely small, but if you encounter characteristic symptoms, you should not delay contacting a doctor.

Can you really die from whooping cough?

Rumors that this disease is fatal are very far from the real state of affairs. Even in the 19th century, when little was known about the potential for vaccination, the death rate from whooping cough did not exceed the number of cases per person. After the experiments of Edward Jener (he first inoculated cowpox to a person in 1796) received medical recognition, and Louis Pasteur developed methods of vaccination against other diseases, the mortality from whooping cough decreased significantly - before cases per person.

But if you take into account the newly born babies, the situation will no longer be so rosy. They do not yet have their own immunity from whooping cough, and they will receive their first vaccination only at 3 months. Moreover, if a poor-quality vaccine is used (or its storage conditions are grossly violated), the likelihood of serious side effects will increase significantly.

In other words, if you followed all the recommendations of doctors during pregnancy, were revaccinated in a timely manner, made all the necessary vaccinations according to the schedule for the baby and did not expose his body to excessive stress, the probability of death will be extremely low.

How is whooping cough different from parapertussis?

Both of these diseases have a similar clinical picture, but it would be a big mistake to consider them as different manifestations of the same pathological process. If we discard subtleties of little interest to an ordinary person, then it will be possible to argue that parapertussis is a lite version of ordinary whooping cough. It proceeds much easier, does not give complications and does not always require any specific treatment.

• Pathogen: parapertussis (Bordetella parapertussis), which produces a toxin less powerful than Bordetella pertussis.
• Risk group: children 3-6 years old.
• Contagious period: no more than 14 days.
• Main symptom: cough (3-5 weeks). At the same time, the child most often maintains normal health, and fever and severe attacks with reprisals and vomiting are practically not observed.
• Incubation period: 7 to 15 days.
• Treatment: symptomatic.
• Duration of quarantine: 15 days.
• Active immunization: not available.
• Forecast: always (!) Favorable.
• Probability of re-infection: none.

Similarity to common whooping cough:

• potential source of infection;
• transmission routes;
• pathogenesis;
• methods and methods of diagnostics.

Is it possible to get whooping cough on the street

It is quite possible. You must understand that pertussis bacteria outside the body of the carrier is extremely unviable and dies very quickly. Therefore, the chance of infection on the street through accidental contact is quite small, although it still cannot be called zero.

If we talk about the possibility of infection in public places (theaters, schools, kindergartens, various sections and circles), where the duration of potential contact with the carrier of Bordetella pertussis is much longer, the situation will not be so rosy. In any room with insufficient ventilation and lack of direct sunlight, the bacterium can remain viable for a long time, as a result of which it will sooner or later “find” a new host.

But it does not at all follow from this that the baby needs to be kept at home all childhood, letting him go outside only on special occasions. If you do preventive vaccinations in a timely manner and teach your child to follow basic hygiene rules, the likelihood of infection can be significantly reduced.

reinfection

Is DTP a guarantee that a vaccinated child will never get whooping cough again? Does it make sense to refuse vaccination if whooping cough can still come back?

If your child has already had whooping cough, then doctors categorically do not recommend refusing routine DTP vaccinations. The fact is that the immunity that they provide is not stable. Sooner or later, he will no longer "recognize" Bordetella pertussis, and the likelihood of re-infection will increase significantly (on average, DTP lasts no more than 5-6 years). According to statistical studies, about 12% of all cases are adolescents over 15 years of age and adults, although whooping cough is considered exclusively a childhood disease.

It should be clarified that re-infection rarely leads to any serious consequences, and the disease itself is much easier. Therefore, you should not refuse preventive vaccinations: in any case, they “work”, as they significantly alleviate the symptoms.

Can whooping cough be treated with antibiotics?

There is no single answer to this question. The pertussis bacillus shows the greatest activity in the body of the carrier only during the first days. Therefore, if the child is given antibiotics at this time (remember, only a doctor should prescribe them!), Bordetella pertussis will be completely destroyed and the child will begin to recover quickly.

But the main problem of this method of treating whooping cough is that it is almost impossible to diagnose the disease at the very beginning of its development without laboratory tests. There is no cough, there are no specific symptoms, and visible clinical manifestations rather indicate ARVI or bronchitis. And if the district pediatrician has no particular reason to suspect whooping cough, he will prescribe the usual vitamins or general strengthening agents for the small patient, which will not affect Bordetella pertussis in any way.

After 12 days, a paroxysmal period begins, characterized by severe coughing attacks. It can last quite a long time, sometimes up to 2-3 months. Antibiotics, even very strong ones, are practically powerless, which is why the prescribed treatment is most often symptomatic.

In this situation, doctors recommend at the first sign of a cold to still consult a doctor. Modern methods of laboratory diagnostics can detect whooping cough in less than an hour. And if you immediately after confirming the diagnosis, give the child a mild and safe antibiotic (for example, erythromycin), it will suppress the reproduction of the bacteria and make the recovery process much faster.

Disease risk for adults

Is it possible to catch whooping cough if you have already graduated from school and are raising children yourself? Why can the risk of infection persist for almost a lifetime?

Theoretically, this is possible (especially if the patient's defenses are weakened), but the likelihood of this is extremely small. The immunity provided by standard vaccines is not very durable - only 5-6 years. Therefore, doctors recommend that after this period, repeated vaccinations not only for children, but also for adults.

Can a child play sports with whooping cough?

Questions

Q: Is it possible to get whooping cough again?

Can you get whooping cough again?

Yes, such cases do occur. The fact is that vaccination immunity develops for a period of 5 to 12 years, after which it begins to decline, and susceptibility to the disease increases.

Learn more on this topic:

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Please use the search for answers (Database contains more than answers). Many questions are already answered.

Can you get whooping cough multiple times?

Whooping cough is a serious and dangerous disease that is caused by a bacterial infection. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets. Whooping cough most often affects children and adolescents. The main symptom of whooping cough is a characteristic cough.

Children under the age of 2-3 years are most difficult to tolerate this disease, in young children complications may occur in the form of: otitis media, bronchitis, pneumonia, encephalopathy, apnea attacks, seizures. Due to severe coughing, hemorrhage in the brain can occur.

After the disease, persistent natural immunity is developed, the likelihood of re-illing with whooping cough is very small.

The whooping cough vaccine does not give permanent immunity, for this reason a second vaccination is needed.

whooping cough can be ill repeatedly and even after inoculation with DTP, where K is whooping cough. vaccination does not protect against the disease in general, but against severe forms of the disease in which a fatal outcome is possible

Whooping cough.

List of posts in the topic "Whooping cough." Forum Parents Meeting > Child Health

The children of friends were diagnosed with whooping cough today, we talked a week or two ago, their children have been very sick for a week now.

What should we do? the whole family has a cough and runny nose, I have the strongest, the child has the weakest. Describe to me, pliz, the symptoms of whooping cough, after how long should I go to donate blood?

And is it possible to get sick twice, my mom proves that I was already sick 😉

What we have now, my son has light snot, there is no cough at all, I have a bad runny nose in the morning, I have been weak since lunch and so every day, cough without attacks 2-3 times a day, my voice is shrunken, my husband just has a sore throat and a taste of metal, me the same.

Does this sound like the onset of whooping cough?

The last communication with a sick child was last Saturday, she had a fever on Saturday evening, we started to snort on Sunday afternoon, before that we met around September, from what date is quarantine considered, can we infect someone now? our nanny came down this Wednesday with our own symptoms, what does it look like, and when the child can go outside, we walked quietly until Friday (until we found out their diagnosis).

The pertussis causative agent is found in large quantities in the patient's sputum. Together with the smallest drops of sputum released during coughing, whooping cough pathogens enter the air, and from there into the respiratory tract of a healthy person. Sometimes whooping cough germs settle on toys, utensils and other items that the patient uses. If these items are then used by a healthy child, he will become infected with whooping cough. Small children are especially easily infected in this way, who take everything they come across by mouth.

A person with whooping cough is especially contagious at the onset of the disease, he remains contagious for 5-6 weeks.

Whooping cough affects children at any age, but most often in the younger - up to 5 years. A child who has whooping cough does not get sick again.

Severe attacks usually last 1-2 weeks, then the child begins to gradually recover. On average, children get sick for 5-6 weeks, and some for 2-3 months. Whooping cough lasts a long time if it is complicated by pneumonia or exacerbates tuberculosis.

In the warm season, a child with whooping cough should be kept outdoors all day. In winter, he must spend 4-8 hours in the air at a temperature not lower than -12 °. It is advisable to organize daytime sleep in the air, while the child should be warmly dressed, covered with a warm blanket. It is even better to use a warm quilted or fur bag.

If pneumonia has joined the whooping cough, the child should also be taken out into the air. This contributes to an easier course of the disease.

As a rule, a child with whooping cough, when he is carried away by some activity, does not cough. Therefore, it is necessary to strive in every possible way to interest the child in toys, pictures, to make him not be afraid of a coughing fit. It is very important not to irritate a child with whooping cough: any injustice towards him, refusal to comply with a request, force-feeding or dressing cause an increase in painful coughing fits and worsen the course of the disease. If others are nervous, react painfully to a coughing attack in a child, then the patient also becomes restless, which negatively affects his condition. Parents need to remember this.

The food of a child with whooping cough should contain many vitamins. Therefore, he needs to be given more fruits and berry juices, berries and vegetables rich in vitamins.

If coughing attacks are accompanied by vomiting, then the child loses part of the food eaten. Therefore, we must try to feed him more often - every 2-3 hours in small portions, give tasty and varied food.

Especially it is necessary to protect children from whooping cough in the first months of life. If in a family where there is a small child, the elder falls ill with whooping cough, it is necessary to place the patient in a hospital or send him to relatives who do not have children.

If a child with whooping cough cannot be provided with the necessary care at home or has serious complications, it is necessary to send him to the hospital.©

And still, at night began to be written! he has not been written for a long time, check the kidneys everything is ok. child 2.7 years old

a week and a half - snot, even went to the garden, everything is ok. On Friday, a cough appeared, and even vomited once, but not with thick sputum, but with what he had just eaten and drunk, and diarrhea (infrequent, but diarrhea). On Sunday evening, the temperature went up to 39. Now snot-cough, the temperature is still holding.

Maybe or is it SARS so vile?

my daughter coughed for a long time, several times a night, but for a total of 2-3 hours and at the end she vomited with transparent snot, without food, there was no temperature at all, it all lasted 2 months

the doctors first sent us, from the pediatrician to the ENT, and they didn’t find anything, because there was a completely normal child in a non-night cough, and when they sent us to an allergist ......

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A detailed explanation of whooping cough in children and adults: what it is, why this disease is dangerous, what symptoms and signs it manifests itself, necessary tests and examinations, treatment, vaccination.

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Last revision date: 05/23/2013

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What is whooping cough? Can he be dangerous?

Whooping cough is a contagious disease in which a sick person develops a painful cough.

In adolescents and adults, especially if they have previously been vaccinated against this disease, whooping cough does not cause any serious complications and, as a rule, ends with a complete recovery.

At the same time, whooping cough poses a serious danger for children of the first year of life, especially if a child becomes ill with whooping cough in the first 6 months of life, if a child who was born prematurely, or a child who did not receive a vaccine against this infection on time, becomes infected with whooping cough.

In newborns and infants, whooping cough can cause sudden death due to respiratory arrest and heart failure. Of 100 children who get whooping cough in their first year of life, 1-2% die.

Every year, more than 50 million people worldwide fall ill with whooping cough, of whom about 300,000 die, most of them young children.

Where does whooping cough come from? How can a person get infected with it?

The causative agent of whooping cough is a microbe (bacterium), which in medicine is called Bordetella pertussis (bordetella pertusis).

Once in the human body, this bacterium produces toxins (poisonous substances), which cause severe inflammation and irritation of the surface of the respiratory tract. Outwardly, this is manifested by prolonged bouts of painful, dry cough.

In the course of epidemiological studies, it was found that the infection that causes whooping cough can only spread among people. For this reason, a healthy person (adult or child) can only get whooping cough from another person who has the disease.

As will be shown below in the chapter on whooping cough symptoms, quite often in adolescents and adults this disease is mild, in which the person has only a mild cough. People who get this form of whooping cough often believe that they have a common cold and therefore rarely go to the doctor, and even in those cases when they do go to the doctor, they are not always prescribed tests that can establish this infection. Because of this, people with whooping cough can spend many weeks infecting other people around them with whooping cough, not knowing that they are spreading a dangerous infection.

Whooping cough is transmitted by airborne droplets. This means that a healthy person can contract this infection by inhaling particles of mucus and saliva that are released into the air when a sick person sneezes or coughs.

It is believed that for infection with whooping cough it is enough:

How long is the incubation period for whooping cough?

Incubation period The incubation period is the period of time between the moment an infection enters the human body and the moment the first symptoms of the disease appear.

For many viral infections of the respiratory tract, such as influenza, the incubation period is 1-3 days (that is, the first symptoms of the disease appear 1-3 days after exposure to the virus). For other infections, the incubation period can vary from a few days (rarely hours) to weeks, months, or years. with whooping cough it can last from 5-7 days to 3 weeks.

When does a person with whooping cough become contagious and how long does it remain contagious?

A person with whooping cough becomes contagious as soon as the coughing fits start and may remain contagious for the next 2 to 4 weeks, or even longer if not treated with antibiotics.

People who start antibiotic treatment (see below for which antibiotics are active against whooping cough) are no longer contagious within the first 5 days of treatment.

How long should a child be kept at home?

If your child gets whooping cough, they need to stay at home and not attend kindergarten or school (quarantine) for at least 5 days if they are receiving antibiotics, and at least 3 weeks if they are not receiving antibiotics.

Why do adults and children who have been vaccinated against this disease get sick with whooping cough?

The whooping cough vaccine is medically known as DTP.

According to the national vaccination schedules adopted in Russia and in many other countries, DPT vaccination is given to children in the form of 4 doses, aged 3 months, 4.5 months, 6 months and 1.5 years.

Observations of large groups of children who received all 4 doses of DTP showed that this vaccine is really effective and makes about 80-85% of children who received it immune to whooping cough (in the remaining 15-20% of children, the vaccine forms immunity, allowing the development of only mild forms of the disease ).

However, studies have shown that immunity against whooping cough does not last for life, but only for a period of 4 to 12 years after the last dose of vaccination.

It is for this reason that many children (and especially adults) can get whooping cough again (in a milder form than people who have never received the vaccine) several years after vaccination and become spreaders of this infection.

In this regard, in some countries, DTP vaccination is recommended not only for children, but also for adolescents (aged) and adults (especially pregnant women).

What are the symptoms and signs of whooping cough?

The symptoms and signs of whooping cough depend on the age of the affected person, whether they have been vaccinated against the disease, and what treatment they receive. We will explain this in detail below.

The first symptoms of whooping cough often resemble those of a common cold: runny nose, slight fever (up to 38.5 C), sore throat, occasional cough, and malaise.

1-2 weeks after the onset of these symptoms, when it seems to a person that he has already almost recovered, the main symptom of whooping cough appears: a dry, choking cough that comes in the form of attacks lasting for 1-2 minutes.

Whooping cough attacks can recur several times an hour and are especially common at night.

Whooping cough can be so severe that after a few bouts, the sick person may vomit or pass out.

In medicine, cases are also described when, during a strong cough, a person's ribs broke.

When the coughing fit subsides, a person infected with whooping cough may look normal and feel practically healthy.

A few weeks after the onset of the disease, the cough begins to subside. In general, whooping cough cough can persist for up to 6-10 weeks or even more.

In children and adults who have been vaccinated against whooping cough, this disease can develop in the so-called "atypical" or "erased" form, in which the sick person is only bothered by a dry cough (no runny nose, no fever), lasting several weeks. It should be noted that even with “erased” forms of whooping cough, despite the mild development of the disease, a sick person can infect other people around him (including children who do not yet have immunity to this infection and who can get sick with more severe forms of this disease). ).

In addition to whooping cough, some other dangerous diseases, including pulmonary tuberculosis, in which a person needs special help, can be the cause of a prolonged dry cough.

Symptoms and signs of whooping cough in young children

Most often, newborns, infants and children of the first years of life become infected with whooping cough from their parents, brothers or sisters, who fell ill with an erased form of the disease and are unaware that they are the source of the infection.

We have already said above that in young children the development of whooping cough can be extremely dangerous, therefore, at the slightest likelihood that a child could get this infection, he should be shown to a doctor.

You may suspect that your child has whooping cough if you notice the following symptoms and signs:

• The child breathes heavily and strangely, as if he were short of breath;
• The child has attacks of dry cough, after which it is difficult for him to breathe or after which he stops breathing

What tests and examinations can a doctor prescribe to detect whooping cough?

Whooping cough is diagnosed and treated by infectious disease doctors.

To check for whooping cough, your doctor may order the following tests:

If these tests show that a person is indeed infected with whooping cough, the doctor will have to prescribe special treatment for him and all people who have come into contact with him.

What is the treatment for whooping cough?

All people infected with whooping cough should be treated with antibiotics. Without this treatment, they can remain contagious for a long time (4 weeks or more) and infect many healthy people around them (including children in whom this infection can cause severe complications).

What antibiotics should be taken?

If you or your child is found to have whooping cough, your doctor may be able to suggest antibiotic treatment such as Erythromycin, Azithromycin, Clarithromycin, Biseptol (co-trimoxazole, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole).

For newborns and children of the first year, Azithromycin is considered the safest. Children older than 2 months who cannot tolerate azithromycin may be given trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The same drug is used in the treatment of whooping cough resistant to Azithromycin.

Possible treatment regimens for whooping cough in adults may include:

• Azithromycin: 500 mg on the first day, then 250 mg daily for 4 more days;
• Clarithromycin: 500 mg twice a day for 7 days;
• Erythromycin: 500 mg 4 times a day for 14 days;
• Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole): 2 tablets 2 times a day for 14 days;

In some rare cases, while taking antibiotics, or a few weeks after treatment is completed, a person can develop a dangerous intestinal infection, the symptoms of which may include abdominal pain and watery diarrhea.

If you're experiencing similar symptoms, see our article Diarrhea Associated with Antibiotic Treatment for our recommendations.

Why does a cough persist after starting antibiotic treatment? Does this mean that the treatment is not working?

With whooping cough, it is not the microbes themselves that cause the cough, but their toxins, which can persist in the respiratory tract for several weeks.

Antibiotics can kill bacteria but are not effective against the toxins they have already produced. In this regard, if antibiotic treatment is started after the onset of a cough (that is, after the microbes have had time to produce toxins), then the cough will continue for several more weeks.

What can be done to ease whooping cough cough?

Numerous studies have shown that conventional cough medicines are practically ineffective for whooping cough and may even harm people who take them.

Because of this, other medicines such as corticosteroid hormones (in small doses in short courses of treatment), antihistamines (such as suprastin), salbutamol, or antipertussis immunoglobulin are used to relieve the cough caused by whooping cough.

If you have a severe cough, be sure to discuss with your doctor what medications you may be taking.

Based on their experience with whooping cough, some experts believe that medications such as zafirlukast and montelukast (used in the treatment of asthma) can relieve whooping cough, but there is currently no scientific evidence to support this assumption.

Recovery from whooping cough can be quite long. As you recover, the cough will become rarer and weaker, however, for a long time after recovery, the airways of a person who has been ill with whooping cough remain extremely sensitive, which is why a strong cough can appear even after a mild cold.

Can you get whooping cough again? What can I do to avoid getting sick again?

We have already said above that after vaccination, strong immunity against whooping cough lasts only for 4-12 years. The same can be said about the immunity that remains after illness. For this reason, a person who has been ill with whooping cough can get it again in a few years.

In order to prevent pertussis infection, experts recommend that all people receive the DTP vaccine every 10 years.

What should other family members do if someone gets whooping cough?

All family members who may have been in contact with a person with whooping cough should receive prophylactic antibiotic treatment.

Because whooping cough can be easily transmitted from one person to another and can cause severe consequences in some people, experts now believe that all people who may have been in contact with a person with the disease should receive preventive treatment. For example, if a child falls ill, then, in addition to family members, all his classmates and teachers should undergo preventive treatment.

Children under 1 year of age, pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, people with reduced immunity

people who are infected with HIV or have AIDS,

people who have diabetes

people who have cancer and are taking cancer treatment (chemo, radiotherapy),

people who are taking treatment with glucocorticoid drugs or other drugs that reduce the activity of the immune system (for example, methotrexate, azathioprine, mercaptopurine, etc.),

people who have undergone an internal organ transplant and are taking medications that suppress transplant rejection,

people who suffer from chronic diseases of internal organs: chronic renal failure, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, heart failure. and people who have serious lung disease (such as asthma) should receive prophylactic treatment for whooping cough even if they have not been in direct contact with a person with the disease, but have been in close contact with another person who may have contracted it.

Do people who have previously been vaccinated against whooping cough need to undergo prophylactic treatment?

Even if a person has previously been vaccinated against whooping cough, they still have a risk of contracting the disease again. For this reason, even if someone who has been in contact with a person with whooping cough has received all vaccinations against this infection, they should still receive prophylactic antibiotic treatment.

If a person has never received a whooping cough vaccine, then at the same time as prophylactic antibiotic treatment, he should also receive a vaccination.

All women should be vaccinated against whooping cough during every pregnancy to protect the newborn baby.

We have already said above that whooping cough can be especially dangerous for children of the first year of life, especially in the first months after birth.

In 2012, data from one US study was published showing that of more than 2,200 cases of pertussis reported in the United States that year, more than 2,200 cases were in infants, of whom 15 died. In about 40% of cases, children contracted whooping cough from mothers who had a mild form of the infection.

In order to protect newborns from whooping cough, it is currently recommended that all pregnant women get the whooping cough vaccine (DTP) in the third trimester, between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.

Thanks to such a vaccination, antibodies quickly appear in the body of a pregnant woman, which pass into the body of a developing child and will protect him from whooping cough in the first months after birth, until he can receive the first dose of DPT vaccination.

You should get the whooping cough vaccine even if you have received all the recommended doses of DTP in the past.

There are currently no whooping cough vaccines that can be given to children immediately after birth. In this regard, protecting the child through vaccination of the mother is the only solution so far.

It will be right if, in addition to the pregnant woman, all other people who will often come into contact with the child during the first months of his life (for example, father, grandparents) will receive a whooping cough vaccine (DTP). They must be vaccinated no later than 2 weeks before the birth of the child.

Is the whooping cough vaccine safe during pregnancy?

The DTP vaccine is currently considered safe for pregnant women. Until now, there have been no cases of its negative impact on the course of pregnancy or on the development of the fetus.

Do I need to repeat the vaccination during every pregnancy?

Due to the fact that after vaccination the concentration of antibodies against whooping cough in the mother's body gradually decreases, for optimal protection of newborn babies, women are recommended to be vaccinated at the end of each pregnancy.

• Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
• Altunaiji, S.M. et al., 2012. Antibiotics for whooping cough (pertussis). Evidence-Based Child Health, 7(3), pp.893–956.
• Bjornson, C.L. & Johnson, D.W., 2013. Group in children. Cmaj, 185(15), pp.1317–1323.
• Luiz Rachid Trabulsi, M.B.M., 2008. Bordetella pertussis. Microbiologia., pp. 257–261.
• Snyder, J. & Fisher, D., 2012. Pertussis in Childhood. Pediatrics in Review, 33(9), pp.412–421.
• Gall SA. Prevention of pertussis, tetanus, and diphtheria among pregnant women, postpartum women, and infants. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2012;55(2):.

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The incidence of whooping cough has decreased significantly over the past few years due to mandatory vaccination. However, individual cases of the disease still occur. With untimely treatment, whooping cough can be fatal, so it is desirable for everyone to know its distinctive features and transmission routes.

The disease is infectious in nature, that is, it is contagious to surrounding healthy people. The causative agent is the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which affects the respiratory tract. A distinctive feature is paroxysmal cough. It is he who is a warning symptom in common colds.

It is recommended to carry out mandatory vaccination, according to the calendar, in order to avoid this disease, due to the severity of the course and possible death. If infection does occur, then protective antibodies persist for life. Children under 5 are more susceptible to whooping cough. At a younger age, the symptoms are more severe. Children under 1 year old with a paroxysmal cough must be hospitalized. The danger lies in the high probability of suffocation due to the narrow lumen of the respiratory tract in a child. Whooping cough is very mild in older people and may be confused with the common cold.

The whooping cough vaccine is given as a combination DTP vaccine. It gives protection to 85% of children, and the rest provides a milder course of the disease. Immunity after vaccination lasts about 12 years, so it is recommended to repeat it.

Important: Whooping cough up to two years of age is especially dangerous due to the anatomical features of the respiratory tract. Sometimes during seizures, respiratory arrest is possible.

Transmission routes

The causative agent of whooping cough is transmitted by airborne droplets even with a simple conversation with a sick person. Increases the likelihood of the spread of the virus coughing and sneezing of the patient, in which the smallest droplets of sputum are sprayed. It contains the whooping cough bacterium, which lives and multiplies in the human respiratory tract.

However, contact transmission is not possible. The whooping cough bacterium quickly dies in a dry environment. You should also know that only people can get sick and carry it.

Conditions that increase the chance of getting whooping cough:

1. Contact with a sick person indoors. With short meetings, infection may not occur. Infection requires a longer contract (longer than 1 hour).
2. Direct contact with secretions from the patient's mucous membranes (sputum, saliva, nasal secretions).
3. Conversation with the patient at a close distance (closer than 1 m).

A sick person is considered contagious from the moment the cough appears for about a month, if antibiotic therapy is not started. If the correct antibiotic is selected by the doctor, then on the fifth day of treatment the person is not contagious to others.

Very young children, according to statistics, become infected with whooping cough from relatives who live with them, or parents. Adults usually carry whooping cough almost asymptomatically and do not know that they pose a threat to the health of babies. Close contact, kissing with a child and coughing from an adult ensure the transmission of the pathogen.

It is possible to protect a newborn child from whooping cough if, during pregnancy, the mother vaccinates DTP, which is considered safe for the mother and for the fetus.

Important: always follow preventive measures - stand at least 2 meters away from a coughing person.

The mechanism of the development of the disease

The incubation period can take up to 3 weeks, after which symptoms of the disease appear. At first, whooping cough can proceed like a common cold with a long recovery period. Early symptoms:

1. Sore throat.
2. Not a critical temperature.
3. General malaise.
4. There may be occasional coughing.

After 2 weeks, the patient is sure that he has fully recovered, however, during this period, the dry cough intensifies and becomes spasmodic. Signs characteristic of the late period of whooping cough:

1. Dry cough, which is manifested not by single coughs, but by whole attacks, lasting up to 2 minutes. They can be repeated several times per hour.
2. Attacks appear mainly at night.
3. During the absence of seizures, a person feels great.

During this period, bacteria infect small bronchioles and produce specific toxins, from which the tissue of the respiratory tract gradually begins to die off and foci of necrosis appear. The abundance of seizures is also explained by the fact that an impulse is transmitted to the brain from irritation of receptors in the airways. A permanent focus of excitation is formed in the brain. It already has a central effect, causing frequent suffocating attacks.

After a few weeks, the disease subsides. However, coughing may persist for some time after antibiotic treatment is completed. This is because it is not the bacterium itself that provokes coughing, but the toxins that it produces. It will take some time for the toxins to be eliminated.

After recovery, the airways recover slowly and can be very sensitive to even mild viruses.

You can distinguish whooping cough from a cold without testing by the nature of the cough: it has a suffocating character and does not turn into a wet form, which is typical for most viral infections.

In severe cases of the disease and in young children, the following dangerous symptoms may be present:

1. Heavy and unusual breathing.
2. Vomit.
3. Hemorrhages on the skin of the face.
4. Seizures.
5. Blueness or redness of the face.
6. Feeling short of breath.
7. After attacks it is impossible to take a breath.

These symptoms must be reported to the doctor or an ambulance called.

Important: be attentive to your body. Do not take a temporary improvement as a recovery. Complete recovery is the absence of all traces of the disease and a return to the original state.

Severity

According to the severity of the flow, three forms of severity are distinguished:

1. Light
2. Medium
3. Heavy.

The doctor can determine which of them is observed in the patient by evaluating the following criteria:

1. Seizure frequency.
2. The presence of hypoxia (cyanosis of the integument).
3. Duration of apnea (lack of breathing).
4. Presence and frequency of vomiting.
5. The presence of problems in the work of the cardiovascular system associated with whooping cough.
6. Encephalic manifestations (anxiety, sleep disturbances, sweating, convulsions).
7. The presence of complications (pneumonia).
8. Child's age.

Important: even a mild stage of whooping cough requires increased attention to the patient. First, the disease can always begin to progress. Secondly, whooping cough is dangerous for the development of such complications as pneumonia. Thirdly, during attacks, hypoxia occurs, which is very harmful to the heart and brain.

What to do if you suspect whooping cough

This infection cannot be cured on its own. In addition, it carries a danger to the patient's life, so a doctor's call is mandatory.

Treatment should be prescribed to everyone who had contact with the patient. Treatment includes:

1. Mandatory prescription of an antibiotic, given the bacterial nature of the infection. After taking an antibiotic, the chance of spreading the infection is reduced.
2. Conventional antitussive drugs in most cases are ineffective, so you should not take them. The doctor will prescribe other drugs that will have a stronger effect and relieve spasm of the airways.
3. Walking in the fresh air is recommended if there is no fever. This helps to relieve coughing attacks and reduce their number.
4. Be sure to ventilate the room often and create the right air climate - it should be humid and cool.
5. Fractional and frequent meals are recommended. This is especially important for patients whose seizures end in vomiting. Food should be non-harmful, complete, rich in nutrients and gentle on the gastric mucosa and pancreas.

The table below summarizes the most important things to know about whooping cough:

Whooping cough is a dangerous infectious disease, the main symptom of which is a paroxysmal cough.. Most often, preschool children suffer from this disease, but, despite this, both adolescents and adults are at risk. To protect yourself and your child from this disease, you should know how whooping cough is transmitted and what preventive measures are most effective in combating it.

Pathogen and symptoms of infection

The bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which is the causative agent of whooping cough, is very unstable to environmental conditions. Getting on household items when coughing and sneezing, the infection instantly dies. The pathogen does not survive boiling and freezing. The bacterium multiplies in the human body at a temperature of 37C - this is the most favorable environment for its life.

Given that whooping cough is an infectious disease, the question of whether it is contagious or not is simply not worth it. A child or adult may have been infected for a long time, but not feel any signs of illness during the incubation period. Cough does not immediately begin to choke the patient, since the latent phase of the disease can last from five days to 3 weeks. During this time period, the person is not contagious.

The primary symptomatology of the disease is no different from the common cold: first there is a runny nose, fever and general malaise. After a couple of days, the bacterium begins to secrete a toxin that irritates the bronchi and trachea and causes a paroxysmal cough. After another five days, thick transparent sputum begins to stand out.

Ways of transmitting whooping cough

Pertussis is transmitted by airborne droplets, the most common mode of transmission of respiratory viral diseases.. The ways of its transmission are as follows:

1. When breathing, coughing and sneezing. In order for infection to occur, contact with the patient must be close. If the distance between a sick person and an uninfected person exceeds 2.5 meters, then the disease cannot be transmitted. Bacteria are excreted with particles of mucus and saliva and enter the respiratory tract of a healthy person.
2. With kisses and hugs. This is the surest way to get whooping cough. The saliva of the patient enters the oral cavity of a healthy person, and then into the respiratory organs, and this contagious disease is transmitted in this way.
3. The disease can also be transmitted through shared cutlery. For example, if a sick mother ate from the same plate with a baby, or a child licked a spoon after an infected person ate it.
4. The pathogen does not live on the surface of household items and, according to doctors, the transmission of a dangerous disease by contact is impossible. However, if the baby licked the toy, which the patient sneezed on right before, he may get sick. If the particles of mucus and saliva have dried up and a little time has passed, then the bacteria will not be able to be transmitted, as they will simply die immediately in the environment.

The length of the infection period

How long is whooping cough contagious? The main period of infection lasts about three weeks. In this case, the incidence statistics are as follows:

• in the first week, the sick person is especially dangerous for others, since during this time period the bacterium is most active. Upon contact with it during the acute phase, the infection rate reaches 100%;
• in the second week, this figure decreases significantly and already 60% is transmitted;
• in the third week, the bacterium is no longer so aggressive, and whooping cough is transmitted during this period only by 30% of people in contact with the sick people;
• subsequently, even if the symptoms persist for a long time, the infection can be transmitted only to 10% of others.

With correct diagnosis and timely start of antibiotics, the disease is not transmitted to others already on the fifth day of illness. That is why, if there was a precedent of whooping cough in the children's team, the infected person is removed from communication with peers for at least 5 days, provided that he receives appropriate antibiotic treatment.

When, for any reason, taking such drugs is contraindicated and treatment is carried out with lighter drugs - interferons, homeopathy or antiviral drugs, the child cannot visit a children's institution until the active phase of the disease has completely passed, and this is at least 21 days. In both cases, the cough may persist for more than one week, but the patient with whooping cough is no longer contagious.

The severity of the disease

There are three degrees of severity of the disease:

• light form. A person coughs infrequently, coughing fits from 8-15 per day. In general, the general condition is normal, and the temperature rises to a maximum of 37.5 ° C;
• medium form. Spasmodic cough pesters from 16-25 times a day, while the patient is very exhausted. Symptoms can persist for a long time, and the person continues to get sick for up to 5 weeks;
• severe form. The number of attacks reaches 30 times a day. At the same time, the person turns pale, his appetite disappears completely, he begins to lose body weight.. Spasmodic cough so severe that it can lead to suffocation.

After a person has overcome the disease, he develops immunity, which does not remain for life, but protects against infection for only 3-5 years. However, cases of re-infection are extremely rare, and if this happens, then the disease proceeds in a milder form.

Whooping cough prevention

Primitive preventive measures are important but ineffective. After close contact with the patient, you should immediately rinse your nose with saline and use a humidifier with a few drops of fir, eucalyptus or juniper oil. But if the object spreading the infection is going through a period of the acute phase of the disease, then this is unlikely to help, since the infection is transmitted and penetrates very quickly.

Vaccination is considered the only effective remedy. The first vaccination is given to the baby as early as 3 months of age, after which 2 more immunizations are carried out with an interval of 1.5 months. After the child is revaccinated in a year and a half.

This preventive vaccination does not give a 100% guarantee that the baby will not get sick. Immunity after it is developed in 80-85% of cases, and if the vaccinated person falls ill, then he suffers the disease much more easily, and the duration of the disease is significantly reduced.

Immunization is carried out by several types of vaccines. All of them are combined - the anti-pertussis component is administered together with the anti-diphtheria and anti-tetanus as part of one drug. Vaccines are divided into whole-cell (TETRAKOK, DPT) and acellular (Infanrix, Hexaxim, Pentaxim, etc.). Both are effective and start the process of producing antibodies to the bacterium that causes pertussis infection.

If a child under the age of 7 has been in contact with a patient, he is examined for immunity to infection and virus cells in the blood. All unvaccinated children and infants under one year of age are given measles immunoglobulin for two consecutive days.

Whooping cough is dangerous because it is transmitted even to newborns. In this case, it may not be recognized in time, since in a child under the age of six months, even bronchitis can occur without coughing, so there is a risk of missing time. In children under one year of age, mortality rates from this dangerous infection are especially high.

The bacterium bordetella pertussis is also insidious in that it can cause erased symptoms in adults, and this often makes it difficult to detect the disease in a timely manner. Such cases are especially dangerous, since patients who do not receive adequate treatment transmit the infection to others in transport, in the family and at work, and at the same time do not suspect for a long time what is the cause of their ailment.

Analyzing the above information, we can summarize that whooping cough is a serious infectious disease that is transmitted by the only way - by airborne droplets. The bacterium that causes this dangerous infection is not able to survive outside the human body, so it does not remain on household items. The only sure way to protect yourself and others from whooping cough is vaccination. The disease is very contagious, especially in the first weeks, so standard preventive measures are practically powerless here.

What could be worse than a constant, choking cough when interacting with people? A prolonged, paroxysmal symptom that does not respond to treatment for several days with many strong drugs - this condition is difficult to endure. At the same time, endless trips to the doctor and examinations do not bring the desired result. Diagnoses change one after another, and treatment is ineffective. In this case, coughing may be a symptom of whooping cough.

Despite universal vaccination, this disease has not disappeared. What kind of disease is it, why is it dangerous and how does it manifest itself today?

What is whooping cough

The first information about the disease appeared in the middle of the XVI century, when an outbreak of whooping cough was recorded in Paris. Since then, the disease has increasingly appeared in European countries. The causative agent of whooping cough was described in 1900 and 1906 by J. Borde and O. Zhang. After that, the bacillus bordetella pertussis began to bear the name Borde-Zhangu. It is a small bacterium that does not form spores and is extremely sensitive to changing environmental conditions. It dies under the influence of any disinfectants, ultraviolet radiation and when heated. That is why it does not linger in the external environment for a long time and after it hits objects it is considered non-contagious.

What kind of disease is whooping cough? The disease belongs to the group of acute infectious, which is transmitted by contact, and its main symptom is a prolonged paroxysmal cough. In nature, there are three main types of whooping cough: 1, 2, 3. The second type causes the most severe changes in the body.

Features of the disease:

• pertussis is characterized by periodicity: every 3-4 years there is a rise;
• exacerbation in most cases is observed in the hot season - in July and August;
• in late autumn and early winter, the peak incidence occurs;
• whooping cough is an acute bacterial infection, the foci of which are noted throughout the year, but the atypical course of the disease often interferes with diagnosis;
• high susceptibility to bacteria of unvaccinated people, the microorganism infects about 75% of those who have been in contact with the patient;
• a greater number of complications are observed when a child under one year of age is infected with whooping cough.

Ways of getting whooping cough

How is whooping cough transmitted? - by airborne droplets, from a sick person to a healthy person with close contact. The microorganism spreads in the environment no more than 2.5 meters. And since it is sensitive to environmental factors, transmission occurs through close contact. An important role in the spread of infection is played by bacteria carriers and people with an atypical or erased clinical picture.

How contagious is whooping cough? The most dangerous period in relation to the spread of whooping cough is the first four weeks from the onset of a suffocating cough. At this time, the bacterium is released into the environment.

The likelihood of infecting others is gradually decreasing.

1. The first week of a spasmodic cough contributes to the infection of almost 100% of others.
2. In the second week, this probability drops to 60%.
3. The third week is less dangerous - whooping cough affects only 30–35% of people.
4. Then no more than 10% become infected.

Isolating the sick and vaccinating those around them greatly reduces the possibility of spreading whooping cough.

The problem is the difficulty of diagnosis. It is almost impossible to make a correct diagnosis before the appearance of typical classical signs. This contributes to the spread of the microorganism and its constant circulation in the environment.

whooping cough symptoms

The leading symptom of the disease is a prolonged paroxysmal cough, which is not relieved by almost all available drugs. It does not matter whether it is a herbal preparation or another potent substance. Cough does not appear due to the accumulation of mucus in the bronchi and not due to narrowing of their lumen, as in other diseases.

What is the cause of such a pronounced cough with whooping cough? The toxin that the bacillus bordetella pertussis secretes when it enters the human body is to blame for everything. This substance begins to act on the vagus nerve, constantly irritating it. And this nerve, as you know, provides the work of many organs:

The toxin irritates the vagus nerve, after which a signal about a malfunction is sent to the brain. Cough is a protective reaction of the body to the action of an irritant, an attempt to get rid of the cause.

What are the symptoms of the disease?

The incubation period of whooping cough depends on the type of pathogen and the body's response to it and lasts from 3 to 15 days. Most often it occurs within 5–8 days.

Diagnostics

It is difficult to suspect the presence of the disease in its initial stage. It often looks like a common viral infection, complicated by inflammation of the tracheal mucosa. Only during the appearance of a cough with reprisals can the presence of this bacterial disease be assumed.

What is needed for diagnosis:

Whooping cough treatment

How is whooping cough treated? Depends on the situation. Moderate and severe forms of the disease are subject to hospitalization. This rule primarily applies to newborns and toddlers up to a year.

If the treatment of the disease can be carried out at home, doctors in the recommendations are guided by the following important rules:

Complications of the disease

Complications are the most unpleasant moment in the development of any disease. In childhood, they are much more dangerous and there have been cases when the disease ended in the death of the child. With the advent of the whooping cough vaccine, such conditions are much less common and the disease itself is milder.

Complications of whooping cough include:

• in mild cases, the outcome is favorable without consequences;
• lung diseases: bronchiectasis, emphysema, bronchopneumonia;
• hemorrhage in the brain;
• epileptic seizures were noted after an infection;
• rupture of the eardrum;
• death;
• the consequences of whooping cough include bacterial complications - inflammation of the middle ear, mediastinitis (inflammatory process of the mediastinal organs), pleurisy.

parapertussis

In its course, parapertussis resembles a mild form of whooping cough. What is parapertussis? This is also an acute bacterial infection, but it proceeds much easier and without dangerous complications.

The parapertussis stick was discovered a little later - in 1937. The disease is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The route of transmission is airborne from a sick person to a healthy one. The microorganism affects the same structures as whooping cough.

Symptoms and treatment of parapertussis

Symptoms of parapertussis only in 15% of cases resemble the usual course of whooping cough - with coughing fits and reprisals, ending in vomiting.

Parapertussis is characterized by the following symptoms:

• normal body temperature;
• persistent cough that does not respond to treatment;
• a slight increase in blood leukocytes;
• complete absence of intoxication or, in rare cases, slight weakness.

In the treatment of parapertussis, a home regimen and the administration of symptomatic medications are mainly recommended. In severe cases, the treatment is no different from the treatment of pertussis infection. Antibiotics, neuroleptics, anticonvulsants are used.

Pertussis infection in children

In many situations, the course of the disease depends on external factors and on the nervous system of the child. Any irritant - be it a bright light, screaming or cold - causes coughing episodes. Children are more susceptible to this influence.

Signs of whooping cough in a child:

Diagnosis is based on symptoms and tests. How to recognize whooping cough in children? - Careful history taking helps to identify the disease. Mothers note a change in the behavior of the child, frequent coughing, which worsens at night and is not treatable, in older children there are reprises. This disease in a child is difficult to identify. Timely diagnosis is helped by tests - an increase in the number of leukocytes in the blood at a normal level of ESR, the determination of the pathogen in smears taken from the nasopharynx and sputum. Serological research methods are carried out - they take tests for whooping cough.

Treatment of whooping cough in children

In the vast majority of cases, treatment takes place in a hospital under the constant supervision of specialists.

How to treat whooping cough in children?

1. All possible irritating factors for the child should be excluded.
2. Adequate nutrition is prescribed, breastfeeding is preserved in infants, the frequency of meals is increased.
3. Antibiotics and neuroleptics are prescribed.
4. Antitussive and sedative drugs are used.

At birth, mother's immunity against whooping cough is not transmitted to babies, and the immune system is still imperfect, so complications are more common in childhood:

• bronchiectasis;
• the appearance of a hernia due to frequent severe coughing;
• rectal prolapse;
• whooping cough in children under one year of age is often fatal.

Whooping cough in adults

Do adults get whooping cough? The infection constantly circulates in nature and adults are also susceptible to it. Especially often those who do not carry out prophylaxis in a timely manner get sick. Severe forms of the disease proceed classically with coughing fits and reprisals. In other cases, the signs of whooping cough in adults are:

What to do if a pregnant woman gets whooping cough? This is a rather rare occurrence, because mostly adults are vaccinated against this disease. But in exceptional cases this is possible. Whooping cough during pregnancy is dangerous in moderate and severe cases, when coughing episodes reach 30 times a day. In this case, spontaneous miscarriage is possible. In addition, the infection can affect the development of the fetus - sometimes deviations in its development develop.

Treatment of whooping cough in adults

How to treat whooping cough in adults? Long term treatment! Antibiotics are prescribed for a course of no more than two weeks, expectorants. After confirming the diagnosis, sedatives and antipsychotics are used for a long course.

It is important to strengthen the immune system so that another infection does not join. New diseases delay the healing process and can lead to the resumption of coughing attacks.

Disease prevention

Whooping cough prevention begins in childhood. It consists in isolating patients from healthy people, timely treatment of infection, and universal immunization.

The first vaccine is administered at three months, then at 4.5 and at 6. The vaccine is applied. It contains 20 billion microbial pertussis cells. DTP is a three-component drug, but it is its pertussis component that gives the greatest number of complications. In some countries, monovaccines are used.

Whooping cough vaccine at a dose of 0.5 ml is administered intramuscularly in the thigh. Revaccination is carried out at 18 months once. If the child has been ill with whooping cough, vaccination is not carried out.

Vaccine complications include:

• increase in body temperature;
• soreness and allergic reaction at the injection site;
• reactions from the nervous system: weakness, lethargy, irritability, vomiting and loss of appetite;
• in severe cases, the development of convulsive syndrome, Quincke's edema and anaphylactic shock is possible.

Despite the frequent complications after immunization, the whooping cough vaccine remains the most reliable prevention of the development of the disease. Failure to vaccinate contributes to the spread of infection and infects others.