Posted on 06/09/2005 12:26:04 AM PDT by ppaul
Whooping Cough Outbreak
Communities throughout the U.S. are experiencing whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks - the worst in 40 years.
If the school nurse or the health department informs you that there is a pertussis outbreak in your school or community, you may need to call your pediatrician. The school or health department will tell you if your child was directly exposed and requires antibiotics.
Health departments across the country are acting quickly to prevent the spread of pertussis, so your cooperation in contacting your pediatrician is crucial. Please follow the instruction of the health department. The care of children in an outbreak situation is different from care in isolated cases and the health department has the most updated information on how best to prevent disease.
This illness is called pertussis because it is caused by bacteria called Bordetella pertussis, which attacks the lining of the breathing passages, producing severe inflammation and narrowing of the airways. Severe coughing is a prominent symptom. Because the child is short of breath, she inhales deeply and quickly between coughs. These breaths frequently make a “whooping” sound, which is how this illness got its common name. Older children might not have the whoop sound. The intense coughing scatters the pertussis bacteria into the air, spreading the disease to other susceptible persons.
Symptoms of Whooping Cough
Whooping cough often acts like a common cold for a week or two. Then the cough gets worse, and the child may start to have the characteristic “whoops.” During this phase (which can last two weeks or more), the child often is short of breath and can look bluish around the mouth. She also may tear, drool and vomit. Infants with pertussis become exhausted and develop complications, such as susceptibility to other infections, pneumonia and seizures. Pertussis can be fatal in infants, but the usual course is for recovery to begin after two to four more weeks. The cough may not disappear for months and may return with subsequent respiratory infections.
When to Call Your Pediatrician
Pertussis infection starts out acting like a cold. You should consider the possibility of whooping cough if the following conditions are present.
The child is a very young infant who has not been fully immunized and/or has had exposure to someone with a chronic cough or the disease.
The child’s cough becomes severe and frequent, or her lips and fingertips become dark or blue.
She becomes exhausted after coughing episodes, eats poorly, vomits after coughing and/or looks “sick.”
Treatment for Exposure
The course of treatment depends on the nature of the exposure. If there is a whooping cough case in your school but your child has not been directly exposed, your health department or pediatrician may just recommend that you watch closely for developing symptoms. If your child was directly exposed, your child may need to be treated with antibiotics even if they are not showing symptoms. Your health department and pediatrician will be able to recommend what’s best for your particular circumstances.
Treatment for Disease
Depending upon the age of the child and the severity of the illness, treatment may include the following either at home or in the hospital:
Antibiotics – may be given intravenously.
Close observation – sometimes in an intensive-care setting.
Oxygen and intravenous fluids.
I was immunized against it as an infant and came down with it anyway. Missed 20 days of school in the first grade. It happens.
Yep, he's pooping on the board.
Phil phil phil, get your snide comments in now, I don't think you're long for the board.
BTW - tell Dr. Dean to keep up the good work, he's really energizing the base. Our base, lol!
What are the symptoms of adult pertussis? Something like a tracheal infection with resultant infrequent but persistent cough?
Live one.
Did they abandon the DPT shots??
I probably need to see to another booster for my 14 yr old, though I get very concerned about vacinnations for girls in this stage of development.
Nonsense, DPT virtually eradicated whooping cough, it is resurfacing because of infected people mixing with unvaccinated members of close contact organizations.
My wife had whooping cough last summer. It was a nationwide epidemic then.
Clearly our politicians' getting re-elected and retaining the Hispanic vote is more important than your whiny concerns about your health. /sarcasm
-.-. ..- - ./- .- --./.-.. .. -. .
i dont know,
i hate , loathe , and despise the self propoganding m. savage
but going home from work early one morning he had some guests on with some modicome (sp) of medical field and they claim that in the last 5 years leprosy cases in the U.S. has gone from about 5 a year to 500 a year due to immigration.
now i aint into panicing but it did raise an eyebrow.
"Illegal aliens are bringing in diseases that had been almost eradicated in America long ago. Is our government not paying attention? Is illegal immigration more important than the health of American children? Apparently so."
Also, cases of Leprosy have quadrupled in the last couple of years. Sorry, I don't have the cite. Refer to the Center for ? in Atlanta.
The government is NOT DOING ITS CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY!
(Grumble: Flippiing Fed govt. wasting money on the UN and forgiving corrupt nations' debts...the IRS doesn't forgive American citizens' debts.")
I think so also. Although we could almost qualify politically for the liberal capital of the country!
And, I hate, loathe, and despise it when folks like you cannot even properly punctuate a sentence and follow simple grade school grammar rules - yet put down men like Savage who are on the ramparts of the culture war. I suggest you listen to the guy for awhile instead of putting him down. You may learn something.
"Nobody by that name."
LOL
You forgot leprosy. Cases of that are now on the rise here too.
here's a hint...
take a flying, well you know what i mean
so like wow dude is M.S. your long lost dad or what.
I think I had this about 3 years ago, and in my sixties, it was no joke at all. I had been immunized in my youth, but I was supposed to be past the point where I needed to worry about it. My doctor would not diagnose pertussis, but I NEVER had such a violent, uncontrollable cough of such long duration, even with pneumonia several years earlier.
He put me on two separate prednisone dose-paks, Humbid, and even Codeine, but nothing really controlled it until it finally cleared up in about 7-8 weeks.
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