Reducing Whooping Cough Symptoms in Babies
How to Prevent Pertussis in Infants With DtaP Vaccination
Oct 18, 2009
Whooping cough is a disease that often evokes a bygone era in the public mind. Many people think whooping cough, also called pertussis, no longer exists or is no longer a health concern.
Unfortunately, whooping cough cases remain a cause for serious concern.
According to Pertussis.com, a website created by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, there were more than 25,000 cases of pertussis in the United States in 2005.
Whooping cough is a respiratory disease spread by bacteria. The illness attacks the lungs of patients and causes serious bouts of coughing. Coughing can turn so severe that patients may gasp for air and even break their ribs as a result.
Whooping cough is also called pertussis. Pertussis is often less serious in older children and adults who may find their only symptoms are a lasting bout of mild coughing. Babies, particularly young infants, are often struck much harder by the bacterium.
Infants who contract whooping cough can suffer all kinds of serious consequences. Side effects of whooping cough in young babies may include pneumonia and inflammation of the brain. According to health authorities at Vaccination.org in Australia, one in 250 infants who catches the illness will die from it.
Signs and Symptoms
Pertussis can begin with symptoms that mimic those of the common cold. Early symptoms include runny nose, sneezing, low grade fever and a mild cough. Within roughly ten days, the disease can progress rapidly. Gently coughing spells can often increase to coughing spells that can last for as long as a minute and may lead a baby to experience oxygen deprivation as the coughing blocks off passages in the infant’s lungs. The baby may emit the characteristic whooping sound during this period.
In between coughing spells, an infant may lie exhausted from the effort of coughing. Coughing can cause the baby to suffer bleeding in many areas of the body including the whites of the eyes. Coughing spells can continue for weeks or even months.
Treatment
Treatment for pertussis depends on the age of the person with the illness. Older children are prescribed antibiotics to help lessen the duration of disease. Babies and young children will likely be admitted to a hospital. During their stay, they are usually given antibiotics intravenously as well as drugs to help treat airway inflammation. Babies may also be given intravenous feedings if they cannot eat as a result of vomiting from coughing spells.
Prevention
The best way to ward off whooping cough is to prevent it. The Academy of American Pediatrics urges parents to get babies immunized with their first dose of DTaP vaccine at two months. Additional doses are also given at the age of four months, six months, a year and four years. Vaccination can help greatly reduce the incidence of the disease in young children. Parents who have infants may also want to get an updated shot as well in order to help reduce transmission of the illness in their children.
Whooping cough can be a scary illness with many potential side effects in young children. Treating the illness can be difficult. Side effects in young babies are quite common. Parents are encouraged to have their babies vaccinated in order to help them avoid infection.
Sources:
Mayo Clinic Website Whooping Cough
Vaccination.org.Australia
Academy of American Pediatrics
Pertussis.com
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