An outbreak of whooping cough and the importance of preventive care
The recent outbreak of whooping cough, including a California epidemic that has killed six infants, is "worrying public health officials who fear that sporadic vaccination practices may be contributing to dangerous cases of the preventable disease," according to an article on msnbc.msn.com.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an extremely contagious bacterial infection (Bordetella pertussis) that assaults the respiratory system. It can cause serious illness in children and adults and is especially dangerous for infants.
Symptoms
Pertussis starts out mimicking the symptoms of a common cold: runny nose, congestion, sneezing and sometimes a slight cough or fever. Symptoms worsen after one or two weeks when severe coughing begins.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Infants and children with the disease cough violently and rapidly, over and over, until the air is gone from their lungs and they're forced to inhale with a loud 'whooping' sound," which is how pertussis became known as whooping cough.
Infant mortality rates
The CDC warns that "pertussis is most severe for babies; more than half of infants less than 1 year of age who get the disease must be hospitalized. About 1 in 5 infants with pertussis get pneumonia (lung infection), and about 1 in 100 will have convulsions." And in rare cases, whooping cough can become deadly, especially for infants and very young children.
Risk factors
According to an article on the Mayo Clinic website, "Whooping cough is thought to be on the rise for two main reasons. The whooping cough vaccine you receive as a child eventually wears off, leaving most teenagers and adults susceptible to the infection during an outbreak—and there continue to be regular outbreaks." In addition, the article warns that babies "aren't fully immune to whooping cough until they've received at least three shots, leaving those 6 months and younger at greatest risk of contracting the infection."
Complications seen in infants and babies
Besides the horrible cough and fever that presents with pertussis, the following complications are seen in young children, according to the Mayo Clinic article:
- Ear infections
- Pneumonia
- Slowed or stopped breathing
- Dehydration
- Seizures
- Brain damage
Prevention
Prior to the discovery of a whooping cough vaccine, this debilitating and sometimes deadly disease was one of the most common diseases seen in children and also the "major cause of childhood deaths in the US," as reported on the website Medline Plus. The article reports that there are fewer cases now due to the vaccines available such as pertussis-only vaccines and combination vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, commonly known as the DPT vaccine.
Vaccination
WebMD states emphatically: "Any child, teen, or adult who has or expects to have close contact with babies younger than 1 year old should get the vaccine." The article advises that all children's caregivers be immunized against pertussis because older people can carry and spread the bacteria and not even know they have the disease because they experience either no or very mild symptoms.
Hand-washing, caution and booster shots
Public health organizations and medical professionals are asking people to stay away from anyone who has a bad cough or people who have not been previously immunized against pertussis.
Washing your hands often and staying away from people who are coughing may also help you avoid getting or spreading the disease.
Medical experts underline the importance of having everyone, from infants to adults, immunized against whooping cough to reduce or eliminate the number of infant deaths from a disease that is preventable if childhood vaccine schedules are followed and adults get booster shots to keep their immunity strong.
