Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a very contagious infection of the respiratory tract. Many people with it have a bad hacking cough followed by a high-pitched “whoop” sound when they take a breath.
Before the vaccine was made, whooping cough was thought to be a disease that only kids got. Whooping cough mostly affects kids too young to have had all their shots or teens and adults whose immune systems aren’t as strong as they used to be.
Risk factors
Mayoclinic says that the whooping cough vaccine you get as a child wears off over time. During an outbreak, this means that most teenagers and adults are likely to get sick.
Babies younger than 12 months old who haven’t been vaccinated or haven’t gotten the full set of recommended vaccines are most likely to get sick or die.
Complications
Teenagers and adults often get better quickly from whooping cough. When complications happen, they are usually caused by hard coughing, such as:
1. Ribs that are bruised or broken
2. Hernias in the stomach
3. Broken blood vessels in your skin or the whites of your eyes
Infants
Whooping cough can cause more serious problems in babies, especially those under 6 months old. Some of these problems are:
1. Pneumonia
2. Breathed slowly or not at all
3. Dehydration or weight loss due to difficulty feeding.
4. Seizures
5. Brain damage.
Because whooping cough is more likely to cause problems in babies and young children, they are more likely to need treatment in a hospital. For babies younger than 6 months, complications can put their lives in danger.
Prevention
The best way to avoid getting whooping cough is to get the pertussis vaccine, which is often given along with shots for diphtheria and tetanus, two other serious diseases. Doctors recommend starting vaccinations when a child is young.
The vaccine is given to children in a series of five shots, usually at these ages:
Two months
Four months
Half a year
Between 15 and 18 months
4–6 years old.
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