Pertussis is more commonly known as whooping cough due to the sound of someone trying to catch their breath after a coughing fit. The infection can last up to ten weeks, which leads to its other name of the 100 day cough. A severe decrease in the number of diagnoses cases in the United States was noticed in the late 1950’s, but in recent years the disease has been on the rise again.
1. Danger of Pertussis
Children and adults are both prone to get pertussis. The disease is particularly dangerous in infants. Most infants with pertussis are hospitalized. Children and adults may also be hospitalized if the symptoms are severe enough. The coughing fits caused by the disease may lead to cracked ribs or pneumonia.
2. Working on Methods of Eradication
One of the reasons for the sharp decline of whooping cough was the development of an infant and childhood vaccine. It was recently discovered that the vaccine wears off in time, leaving teens and adults vulnerable to pertussis. A booster shot is now recommended for adults, particularly those who come in contact with infants.
Whooping cough is highly contagious. It is especially dangerous for anyone with whooping cough to be around infants who have not yet been vaccinated. Even vaccinated infants and adults can contract the disease, but the vaccination usually makes the symptoms less severe. A person who is carrying the disease is contagious even before symptoms appear.
3. Commonly Experienced Symptoms
In its early stages, pertussis symptoms closely resemble that of the common cold or bronchitis. Due to this, many cases go undiagnosed. Severe coughing fits can make it difficult to eat, sleep, or breathe properly. A person may have pertussis even if they are not making the “whooping” noise that most people recognize as the main symptom of the disease.
4. Methods of Prevention
Pertussis is one of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. All parents are strongly encouraged to have their child vaccinated for their own safety and that of those around them. Infants who contract whooping cough often suffer from severe complications. These complications may even lead to death.
Pregnant women should be vaccinated against pertussis as a means of protecting the infant. However, no immunity is passed from the mother to the child. This leaves babies vulnerable to the disease at birth. Any other children or adults in the household should also be immunized.
If you contract pertussis, you will gain temporary immunity after you recover. As with the vaccine, however, this protection fades over time. Booster shots are still recommended in order to suppress the disease.
The cough from pertussis may persist for up to ten weeks. A person is no longer contagious, however, three weeks after they have started to show symptoms. There are antibiotic treatments available. These treatments help control the symptoms of the disease. They also help prevent the disease from spreading.
If you or your child has whooping cough, you should limit contact with other people as much as possible, particularly avoiding infants less than 12 months old. You will no longer be contagious three weeks after the coughing starts or five days after beginning an antibiotic treatment.