Whooping Cough

Whooping cough is a serious respiratory disease that leads to complications that might be life-threatening, especially in babies and infants younger than a year.

Whooping cough

Whooping cough is a serious and very contagious disease that causes long episodes of cough, which end in a high-pitched inhaling that occurs as a whoopy voice, yet there are some cases that don’t make this sound.

Pertussis could affect anyone at any age, but it’s more severe in babies younger than two months (because they can’t take the vaccine), children, and adolescents.

Causes of whooping cough

Whooping cough occurs due to a type of bacteria, and it’s very contagious and transmits through inhaling the airdrops that come out of the patient when coughing and sneezing.

Symptoms of whooping cough

• Symptoms might take 7-10 days or more to start appearing after getting infected with pertussis, and the patient is contagious in this phase.
• The symptoms usually start mild and similar to the common cold, such as mild fever, mild cough, runny or congested nose, and red eyes.
• After one or two weeks, the mucus starts accumulating inside the air tracts, and the cough increases and becomes stronger and is accompanied by the whooping sound in most of the cases. Extreme cough also leads to vomiting, a blue or red face, and extreme tiredness.
• Coughing might not occur in babies; rather, they suffer from breathing difficulties that could lead to apnea.

Complications of whooping cough

• In adults and adolescents: rib cracks or bruises, abdominal hernia, ruptured blood vessels in the white of the eye or the skin, losing bladder control, and unintentional weight loss.
• In infants and babies: pneumonia, apnea, seizures, brain damage, and eating problems.

Diagnosis of whooping cough

• A nose or throat sample.
• Blood tests.
• Imaging tests.

Treatment of whooping cough

• Specific antibiotics.
• You must stick to the vaccination of the whooping cough to prevent getting infected.