Whooping Cough

What is it?

Whooping cough is an acute infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by the bacterium Bortadella Pertussis. The disease is transmitted by spraying airway droplets. The disease has three main stages:
Stage 1 - The catarrhal stage is the incubation stage of the bacterium, lasting between 3-12 days in which the patient feels non-specific symptoms such as congestion, cough, tears, redness in the conjunctiva and low fever. Blood test may indicate Leukocytosis and Lymphocytosis.
Stage 2- The paroxysmal stage (2-6 weeks) - This stage is unique to the disease. It starts as a dry cough that turns into whooping cough (during expirium), shortness of breath and vomiting. The person can apprear red or blue (cyanotic) at the time of the attack. Under 3 months of age classical symptoms are not always present, therfore, it is more difficult to diagnose. Dangerous signs are events that last over 45 seconds, cyanotic, lack of return to pre-attack blood saturation, lack of response to post-vomiting irritation.
Stage 3 - convalescent(1-2 weeks) - The coughing become less severe and less frequent.
Complications of whooping cough are pneumonia, dehydration, weight loss, sleep disorders, hospitalizations, seizures, encephalitis and where death.
In the first year of life there is an excessive risk of complications, hospitalizations and secondary bacterial pneumonia, the reason I love mortality.