What Is the Best Treatment for Whooping Cough?

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that causes severe coughing and trouble breathing. A course of antibiotics is used to treat the infection along with home treatment consisting of using a humidifier, drinking plenty of fluids, soups, juices, etc. to prevent dehydration.

Whooping coughis a bacterial infection that causes severecoughingand troublebreathing. The illness is preventable through immunization. However, thevaccinemay wear out after 5 to 10 years, putting anyone at risk of infection.

In modern times, doctors are able to preventwhooping coughby encouraging vaccination. Before a vaccine was available, the disease was a major cause of childhood deaths.

Whoopingcough, also calledpertussis, is a verycontagiousdisease that mainly affects infants and young children. It is caused by a bacterium called Bordetellapertussis. Pertussis is characterized by coughing that ends with a characteristic "whoop" as air is inhaled.

Whoopingcoughstarts like thecommon cold, withsneezing, a流鼻涕, orcongestion. Sometimes you may notice a mild cough orfever. A severe cough begins after a week or two.

The period between initial infection and when whooping cough is observable is about 5 to 10 days. In some cases, however, symptoms may not appear for as long as 3 weeks.

The most common symptoms of whooping cough include:

• Coughing, violently and rapidly, until all the air has left thelungsand a person is forced to inhale, causing a "whooping" sound
• Sneezing
• Nasal discharge
• Fever
• Sore,watery eyes
• 嘴唇、舌头、指甲床turning blueduring coughing spells

Pertussis may last up to 10 weeks and can lead to other complications likepneumonia. Since the symptoms of whooping cough can look like other medical conditions, it is always wise to consult your doctor to know if you have the disease.

You can get whooping cough if a person who has it sneezes, laughs, orcoughsclose to you. This happens when small droplets that contain this bacteria fly through the air and you breathe them in.

Once the Bordetella pertussis bacteria get into your airways, they attach to the tiny hairs in the linings of the lungs. The bacteria then causes swelling and inflammation that leads to a dry, long-lasting cough and othercold-like symptoms.

Although pertussis is easily spread from one person to another, children and adults who are at risk can prevent it with vaccination. This vaccine is commonly referred to as the DTaP. It is also effective in protecting againstdiphtheriaandtetanus.

Adults may develop whooping cough as their immunity fromvaccineswears off over time.

Your doctor will know if you have the diseases by determining if you have been exposed to it. This is made possible by doing a:

• History of typical signs and symptoms
• Physical examination
• Laboratory test which involves taking a sample ofmucus(with a swab or syringe filled with saline) from the back of the throat through the nose
• Blood test

It's better to get tested in the first stage when the infection is most treatable.

Since whooping cough can be very serious, it is necessary to get treated in the hospital.

Medications

The primary course of treatment is antibiotics as the infection is caused by bacteria. Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics if your case is just in its early stages. You could also use them in the late stages of the infection to prevent it from spreading to others.

Suchdrugsinclude:

• Azithromycin(Zithromax)
• Clarithromycin(Biaxin)
• Erythromycin(E-Mycin,Eryc,Ery-Tab,PCE, Pediazole, Ilosone)
• Sulfamethoxazole(Bactrim,Septra)

If the infection is resistant to treatment with any of these, other antibiotics liketrimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole may be prescribed. Your doctor may also want to treat other close contacts with the same antibiotics regardless of whether they are immunized. While these medicines can help treat the infection, they don’t prevent or treat the coughing.

It is not advisable to use cough medicines if you suspect a case of pertussis as they don’t have any effect on the infection and may cause harmful side effects on children.

Home care

Your doctor may suggest using a humidifier in your child’s bedroom to keep the air moist and help improve symptoms of whooping cough. Other supportive remedies include drinking plenty of fluids, soups, juices, etc. to preventdehydration. Taking small and frequent meals may help to preventvomiting.

You should free your home of irritants like smoke, dust, and fumes that can lead to coughing.

People with pertussis are infectious from the beginning of the catarrhal stage. This is when you have a runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, among other symptoms of thecommon cold.

You may remain infectious through the third week after the onset of paroxysms or multiple rapid coughs. Make sure to protect those close to you until 5 days after the start of treatment.