Anyone can get whooping cough, but it is more common in infants and children. It's especially dangerous in infants. The coughing spells can be so bad that it is hard for infants to eat, drink or breathe. Symptoms of pertussis may begin within three to 12 days of exposure and last as long as two weeks. Initial symptoms include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, mild fever and watery eyes. Following a two-week course of illness, pertussis begins as a dry, hacking cough that progresses to prolonged coughing spasms.
During these spasms, the tongue may protrude, the eyes may bulge and the face may become discolored. The whooping cough actually makes a whoop sound where you'll hear a coughing, it's called paroxysmal coughing, and that's just a big long coughing spasm where kids will just cough and cough and cough and cough and then you hear [whoop sound] and that's exactly what it sounds like.
The whoop that goes along with the whooping cough is the one that really scares most pediatricians. Whooping cough can be deadly to babies. At six months old the immune system that they got through their mom's placenta will actually start to wean off and they have to develop their own immune system. So that's why there's so many shots for babies until they're six months old, you get a little break at nine months old, until the 12 month old vaccines but there's so many shots until six months old so they can get protected from things like pertussis, tetanus, polio, their hepatitis B vaccine, HIB, that's Haemophilus influenzae type B, that's a bacteria that causes ear infections the pneumonia and meningitis.
But pertussis is one that really scares us because babies, if they get pertussis or whooping cough, they won't cough like that sometimes. They will just stop breathing. The younger they are, the more likely they are to just stop breathing. For older kids and the kids that you're going to hear that whoop on, pertussis, or whooping cough, it actually has three different phases. So the first one is about two weeks, you just have a persistent cold, runny nose, mild cough, pink eyes, not pink eyes as in like goopy eyes, but just injected eyes.
And it will seem like a lingering cold, it just won't go away. The second phase, that's when you hear that whoop, it's just a cough that just gets worse and worse and worse. It can last up to a month. The cough can often make the kids vomit or their face will turn red or blue and it's almost always worse at night.
If your child is old enough to have had all the whooping cough vaccines, then the good news is that they probably aren't going to get whooping cough. This vaccine is very effective. The third phase of the whooping cough is recovery. It takes about another month for the cough to improve. The good news is whooping cough is able to be detected by a swab that we will put up a child's nose and send it off to look for this particular bacteria.
If the test comes positive for that bacteria, there are antibiotics that can be given to treat whooping cough. Signs and symptoms of whooping cough Whooping cough usually starts with cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose and dry cough, which last for about one week. After that, a more definite cough develops, which may last for 10 weeks or more. The cough comes in long spells and often ends with a high-pitched 'whoop' sound when the child breathes in.
Some children cough so much they vomit afterwards. Children are usually well between coughing spells. Babies under six months of age may have pauses in breathing called apnoeas instead of a cough.
In more severe cases, babies and children may have problems catching their breath after a coughing spell. Other infections such as pneumonia chest infection and middle ear infections are common while children have whooping cough.
When to see a doctor Call an ambulance immediately if your child is struggling to breathe or if their lips start to turn blue. If you think your child has whooping cough, take them to see your GP.
The time it takes to get better is different for each child. Care at home In most cases, children with whooping cough can be cared for at home after they have been seen by a doctor. Give your child small, frequent meals and fluids often such as sips of water or smaller feeds, but more often.
Taking care of a child with whooping cough can be stressful. Ask for help from family and friends so that you can catch up with sleep. Do not allow anyone to smoke in the home or around your child. How is whooping cough spread? Children with whooping cough should not attend child care, kindergarten or school: for three weeks from the start of the cough, if no antibiotics are given until they have had at least five days of their course of antibiotics.
Whooping cough immunisation Immunisation is the best way to prevent whooping cough. Whooping cough vaccine is recommended for all babies at six weeks, four months, six months, 18 months and at four years. An adult pertussis booster dose is then given at 12—13 years in Year 7 at secondary school. All babies less than six months old are at risk of catching whooping cough because they have not completed the three-dose primary vaccine course.
This risk period is longer if the six-month vaccines are not given on time. Protection against whooping cough can last for up to 10 years after a booster dose. A booster dose of adult whooping cough vaccine is recommended for all parents of newborns. Grandparents and other carers in contact with children who are less than six months old should also have an adult pertussis booster, even if they have been infected with whooping cough in the past.
Every adult is susceptible to whooping cough infection unless they have had a recent pertussis booster. Adults are the ones most likely to spread infection to babies under six months who are not yet fully vaccinated. Pregnant women are recommended to have a pertussis vaccine to protect their baby from developing whooping cough in the first few weeks of life.
0コメント