What is the whooping cough?

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a disease that basically makes you cough a lot. Sometimes you even cough up blood or puke because you're coughing so hard. It's a very nasty disease, and is occasionally (rarely) fatal. This is usually in the very young or the elderly though.

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You can read a simple guide to whooping cough or pertussis (which is caused by a bacteria) in my blog - a simple guide to medical conditions

Whooping cough - or pertussis - is an infection of the respiratory system caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (or B. pertussis). It's characterized by severe coughing spells that end in a "whooping" sound when the person breathes in. Before a vaccine was available, pertussis killed 5,000 to 10,000 people in the United States each year. Now, the pertussis vaccine has reduced the annual number of deaths to less than 30.
Signs and Symptoms
The first symptoms of whooping cough are similar to those of a common cold:

runny nose
sneezing
mild cough
low-grade fever
After about 1 to 2 weeks, the dry, irritating cough evolves into coughing spells. During a coughing spell, which can last for more than a minute, the child may turn red or purple. At the end of a spell, the child may make a characteristic whooping sound when breathing in or may vomit. Between spells, the child usually feels well.

Although it's likely that infants and younger children who become infected with B. pertussis will develop the characteristic coughing episodes with their accompanying whoop, not everyone will. However, sometimes infants don't cough or whoop as older children do. They may look as if they're gasping for air with a reddened face and may actually stop breathing for a few seconds during particularly bad spells.

Adults and adolescents with whooping cough may have milder or atypical symptoms, such as a prolonged cough without the coughing spells or the whoop.


I know this is very contagious. They thought my little boy had it once and they put him under isolation and for me to go out in the hallway I even had to wear a mask. He did not have it but he did end up having the croup.

If you want more infomation on this got to http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infecti...

A deadly cough caused by whooping cranes from Iowa. They spread the disease by urinating in country grounds which seeps into the wells and water mains. Then you drink it. If you get it you will die.