Whooping cough (Pertussis)
Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can cause a long-lasting and persistent cough and often results in a deep intake of breath between coughing that causes the distinct ‘whoop’ sound. The illness is relatively common, despite widespread vaccination, and most likely to cause complications in infants under the age of one. It is contagious for about two weeks.
Incubation period
4-21 days (7-10 is most common)
Symptoms
Runny nose, Sore throat, Red – watery eyes, Slightly raised temperature, Intense coughing
Possible complications
Pneumonia, Seizures, Breathing difficulties
About whooping cough (Pertussis)
Whooping cough (also known as Pertussis, meaning “violent cough”) is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
It usually starts with cold-like symptoms before causing intense, uncontrollable bouts of coughing that can make it hard to breathe. In between coughing bouts, some people with pertussis need to take deep breaths that cause the distinct ‘whooping’ sound that gives the illness its name.
Whooping cough is contagious for about two weeks after the cough begins, although antibiotics can shorten the length of the infection.
This illness can affect people of all ages but is most serious in infants under 12 months.
Whooping cough symptoms
Whooping cough has three characteristic phases:
- The initial ‘catarrhal’ stage consists of a cough, runny nose and temperature – similar to a bad cold.
- This is typically followed after a week by uncontrollable spasms of coughing which, when severe, are separated only by the ‘whoop’ as the child forcefully breathes in between coughing bouts. This is described as the ‘paroxysmal’ stage.
- The final ‘resolution’ stage heralds an improvement in the child’s condition and the road to recovery, though this can take some time, which is why the disease is known in Japan and China as the ‘hundred-day cough’.
Nowadays, most cases are relatively mild with less than half developing the characteristic ‘whoop’. Most children with whooping cough now only have what appears to be a bad cold followed by a cough, making the diagnosis easy to miss.
Possible complications
Serious complications can occur but are much less common than they used to be. They are most likely to affect infants.
- 1 out of 4 (23%) get pneumonia (lung infection)
- 1 out of 100 (1.1%) will have seizures (violent, uncontrolled shaking)
- 3 out of 5 (61%) will have apnoea (slowed or stopped breathing)
- 1 out of 300 (0.3%) will have encephalopathy (disease of the brain)
- 1 out of 100 (1%) will die
Whooping cough can still be a distressing and unpleasant illness with prolonged episodes of coughing with vomiting that may last for several weeks.
