Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways. Whooping cough tends to develop in stages, with mild symptoms occurring first, followed by a period of more severe symptoms, before improvement begins.

Causes

Whooping cough is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (or B. pertussis). It mainly affects infants younger than 6 months old whose vaccination programme is incomplete, or older children e.g. 11 to 18 years olds whose immunity has started to fade.

About half of babies younger than 1 year of age who get the disease need treatment in the hospital. About 1 in 4 hospitalized babies with whooping cough get pneumonia, and about 2 in 3 babies will have trouble breathing.

Whooping cough is highly contagious. The bacteria is spread from person to person through tiny drops of fluid from an infected person’s nose or mouth. These may become airborne when the person sneezes, coughs, or laughs. Others then can become infected by inhaling the drops or getting the drops on their hands and then touching their mouths or noses.

Symptoms

The first symptoms of whooping cough are similar to those of a common cold. The symptoms  usually take between six and 20 days to appear after infection with the Bordetella pertussis bacterium.

Whooping cough tends to develop in stages, with mild symptoms occurring first, followed by a period of more severe symptoms, before improvement begins. Early symptoms include:

• runny nose
• sneezing
• mild cough
• watering eyes
• sore throat
• feeling generally unwell
• low-grade fever

In the later stage the following symptoms are usually observed:

• intense bouts of coughing, which bring up thick phlegm
• a ‘whoop’ sound with each sharp intake of breath after coughing (may not occur in infants and young children, see below)
• vomiting after coughing, especially in infants and young children
• tiredness and redness in the face from the effort of coughing

Treatment

You should always see your doctor if you think you or your child may have developed whooping cough. If this is the case you will need to be prescribed antibiotics.

Prevention

Whooping cough can be prevented with the whooping cough vaccine.