Don’t mistake a whooping cough for a cold
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease caused by a bacteria that gets spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
In the early stages, whooping cough (pertussis) symptoms are similar to a common cold. Your child can have runny nose, sneezing, fever and maybe a low-grade fever. After 2-3 days it turns into a dry “ordinary” cough that persists for a week or two. And then it turns into the major symptoms of major attacks of coughing without breathing in, until the lungs are empty. During a coughing spell, your child’s face or nailbeds may turn red, blue, or white from not getting enough oxygen. When the coughing spell ends and the child takes a breath, it may make a “”whooping” noise.
Listen to the sound bite from these links -
A classic pertussis with lots of whooping.
Attacks of a choking cough lasts from 1 to 2 minutes, often with vomiting, severe facial congestions and a feeling or appearance of suffocation. Between these attacks of coughing the sufferer appears and usually feels perfectly well.These choking attacks of coughing happen as little as twice a day or as many as fifty. Between attacks (’paroxysms’ is the technical name) the sufferer may not cough at all.’Whooping’ is a noise that comes from the voice box after a paroxysm when the sufferer is suddenly able to take a breath in again.
An affected person can pass pertussis at the early cold-like symptoms up to three weeks after onset.
Pertussis is no longer as common because of vaccinations. But if your child has not had the pertussis vaccine, and has had a cold, then coughing that worsens after a week, it is best to see your health care provider.
[Sources: Whoopingcough.net; Columbian.com]
Tags: whopping cough, common cold, symptoms, pertussis
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POSTED IN: Children's Health, Common childhood illnesses, Diseases and Medical Conditions, Infectious Diseases
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