What is whooping cough?
Whooping cough is a highly infectious bacterial infection that affects people of all ages, but is most severe in children. It was first recognised after a whooping cough epidemic in Paris in 1578. It was then known as the ‘dog bark’, the ‘chin’ cough or ‘kin’ cough, meaning ‘convulsive’ cough.
The disease causes sudden attacks of an irritating cough that often end in a high-pitched whooping sound as the child takes a breath. Although immunisation has reduced its severity, it is still a common infection. Regular epidemics occur every 3 to 4 years. It is particularly severe in children less than one year of age.
Severity of whooping cough
If your child contracts whooping cough and they have not been vaccinated, they are more likely to develop pneumonia. A severe case of whooping cough or pneumonia could result in brain damage or death. If your child has never had the disease and has not been vaccinated against it, they are likely to get whooping cough if they come into contact with the bacteria. Whooping cough is also dangerous in elderly people, but tends to be less severe in adolescents and adults.
What causes whooping cough?
Whooping cough is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, although sometimes other bacteria can cause a pertussis-like syndrome. Bacteria enter the air passages and damage the lining of the windpipe and the main air passages in the lungs. The inflamed airways produce more mucus which then causes the irritating cough. The bacteria are passed from person to person by the infected mucus during coughing.
What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
The symptoms of whooping cough commonly develop about 7 to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria, but can occur any time from a few days to a few weeks. Whooping cough symptoms can be divided into 3 stages. The cough commonly persists for up to 3 months.
The first (catarrh) stage
The first stage resembles the common cold, with a mild occasional cough, loss of appetite, runny nose, sneezing and possibly a slight fever. It is not common, however, for whooping cough to cause a fever. It is highly contagious at this stage, but difficult to diagnose, as whooping cough can be mistaken for bronchitis.
Nose and throat swabs that detect the pertussis bacteria will work only in the early stages of the disease. If your doctor suspects that your child has whooping cough because of the classic cough symptoms, they will take a swab and send it to the laboratory to make sure of the diagnosis.
Blood tests can also be done for pertussis, but these are not always reliable or easy to interpret, so they are not thought to provide a definitive diagnosis. However, a person who has a positive blood test and a 2-week history of a suspicious cough will be advised to have further testing.
The second (paroxysmal) stage
The second stage begins after 7 to 14 days. It is known as the paroxysmal stage due to the coughing spells. These coughing spells may produce plenty of mucus and the cough may finish with a loud whoop. Choking on the mucus can cause vomiting. Many young children diagnosed with whooping cough may not necessarily have the typical ‘whoop’. Children may turn red or blue during the coughing fits. The persistent coughing spells can cause a child to stop breathing temporarily. Complications such as pneumonia or middle ear infections are more likely to develop at this time.
The third (convalescent) stage
The third stage (convalescent) is when the coughing and vomiting starts to subside. Sometimes, the coughing can start again months later if the child develops an upper respiratory tract infection.
In adolescents and adults, the disease is often milder and people may even not show any symptoms, or they may have mild cough or a persistent cough.
How is whooping cough treated?
Some cases of whooping cough can be treated at home, depending on how severe the whooping cough is, while others will need to be treated in hospital. An antibiotic may be prescribed if it is early enough in the course of disease to make a difference, or to help make the person less infectious to others. A child may be infectious to others for up to a month after the start of the cough, but if an antibiotic has been prescribed, the infectious period is reduced to less than a week.
Antibiotics may also be offered to certain groups of people who have been in direct contact with the infected person. These include women in the last month of pregnancy and infants less than a year old.
What you can do
Increased comfort for young children will aid recovery. Small healthy meals and fluids can be given to your child. Using steam in the bedroom or sitting the child on your knee in a steamy bathroom may give some temporary relief, however, the risk of burns is very real; never leave your child unsupervised. Cough medicine is of little value.
Caring for a child with whooping cough is hard work, especially as the cough is often worse at night. Ask family and friends to help so you can catch up with sleep. Keep your child away from others to prevent the infection spreading.
Exclusion from school, childcare or work
People with whooping cough need to stay away from work, school or childcare facilities until they have been on antibiotics for 5 days. If there is an outbreak of whooping cough and your child is not immunised they will have to stay away from their kindergarten or school until the outbreak is over. Children who are household contacts of the infected person and who have received fewer than 3 doses of pertussis vaccine need to stay off school or childcare for 21 days after the last exposure to infection, or until they have taken 5 days of a course of antibiotics.
Immunisation for whooping cough
The prevention of whooping cough by immunisation is vital. There are very few medical reasons why a child should not have pertussis immunisation. It is now accepted that contraindications (reasons why a child should not have the immunisation) have been overstated in the past. Newer vaccination formulations mean that previously troublesome post-vaccination symptoms, such as fever, are much less common than was the case with previous versions.
There is a booster vaccine available for individuals aged 10 or over.
To protect very young babies who are most at risk themselves, it is a good idea for parents, carers and grandparents, as well as brothers and sisters who are 10 years old or older, to have a booster vaccination. This is because the protective efficacy of the vaccine wears off over time. All adults planning a pregnancy are also advised to have a booster vaccination.