Pertussis

Thirteen new born babies have died in the recent outbreak of whooping Cough; this has led to the campaign to vaccinate pregnant women. New born immune systems are so vulnerable and it’s too early to give them vaccinations these are given at 2, 3 and 4 Months of Age (and then again before school at around 3 years and 4 months.) The new campaign to help the new born babies is to vaccinate the pregnant mothers around 28-30 weeks old. The vaccinate will increase the number of antibodies in the mother, these should move from the mother to the baby and hopefully vaccinate the new born. The vaccination are recommended because although most babies are infected against most infections through breast-feeding, they are not protected against whooping cough. 

The medical name for Whooping Cough is Pertussis; the name whooping cough comes from the distinctive ‘whooping’ noise in a persistent bout of coughing, after the first symptoms of dry throat. The coughing attacks occur on average 15 times a day, and the infection can last up to 12 weeks. There are other symptoms like high temperature, runny nose and vomiting after coughing. It is highly contagious which means it can be passed from person to person through the air when people sneeze or cough. It can take 5-15 days to see the symptoms after the disease is contracted, this is known as the ‘incubation period.’  The infection is caused by the Bordetella Pertussis which affects the lungs and airways.

Diagnosis: It’s usually formed from symptoms and family recent history; however it can also be diagnosed by analysing a swab taken from nose and mouth (results take about five days) and Blood tests are usually avoided. There is a new surveillance test which involves taking a specimen by brushing along the gum line with a saliva-collecting device. It’s used to estimate antibody levels directed against a toxin produced by the bacterium and is suitable for assisting in the diagnosis of those patients who have been coughing for more than two weeks and are suspected of having whooping cough.

Vaccination is the best prevention; however the body creates immunity after having the infection. Although most cases of whooping cough don’t need treatment and in a lot of cases in older people the infection is not diagnosed. In newborns and young children with asthma they usually have to monitored in hospital, and the only other treatment is antibiotics.