whooping cough?

Question

can you get whooping cough more than once? what are the chances?

Answer 1

Reinfection appears to be uncommon but does occur. Reinfection may present as a persistent cough, rather than typical pertussis.

If a child has had a documented case of pertussis he or she does not need additional immunization against the disease, however, the diagnosis should be confirmed by laboratory evidence before deciding that vaccination is not necessary.

Answer 2

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.

Pertussis is highly contagious. The bacteria spread from person to person through tiny drops of fluid from an infected person's nose or mouth. These may become airborne when the person sneezes, coughs, or laughs. Other people then can become infected by inhaling the drops or getting the drops on their hands and then touching their mouths or noses. Infected people are most contagious during the earliest stages of the illness up to about 2 weeks after the cough begins. Antibiotics shorten the period of contagiousness to 5 days following the start of antibiotic treatment.

Whooping cough can be prevented with the pertussis vaccine, which is part of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis) immunization. DTaP immunizations are routinely given in five doses before a child's sixth birthday. To give additional protection in case immunity fades, the AAP now recommends that kids ages 11-18 get a booster shot of the new combination vaccine (called Tdap), ideally when they're 11 or 12 years old, instead of the Td booster routinely given at this age. As is the case with all immunization schedules, there are important exceptions and special circumstances. Your child's doctor will have the most current information.

[Obviously, whooping cough can re-occur, unless one is immunized against it.]

Answer 3

Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria called Bordetella pertussis, which lives only in human throats. Vaccine-induced immunity to B. pertussis wears off eventually, but for adults the bug usually produces nothing more than a very bad cough. In small children the cough, which comes in bouts or "paroxysms", can make someone literally breathless, and they usually have to take a quick deep breath or "whoop" at the end of the paroxysm -- thus the term "whooping cough".

The danger of whooping cough is that in small babies (usually under six months, definitely under two months, and especially ex-premies) the paroxysms may leave them not just breathless but without oxygen. Because of this danger we often have to intubate small babies and put them on ventilators until they get over the infection -- and this is made harder because the cough can be so forceful that a baby can cough the tube right out of the windpipe.

. pertussis can be treated readily with erythromycin, and we usually treat everyone in the family at the same time when one child is sick so that people don't pass the bug back and forth. (If you have pertussis, you stop being contagious after 5 full days of antibiotics, although you need a longer course of antibiotics for complete treatment.) We can also immunize against B. pertussis, which is much better since the treatment for an active infection takes a while to work, during which the coughing persists. Newer macrolide (erythromycin-like) antibiotics such as azithromycin and clarithromycin can also be used to treat whooping cough. Students (and teachers and other staff) who have pertussis should stay home from school until they have had at least 5 days of antibiotics; if they do not take antibiotics they need to stay away from school (and from small babies or their families) for 21 days after the start of symptoms.

The first four doses of vaccine for whooping cough are given at 2, 4, 6, and 12-18 months of age. Unfortunately
The first four doses of vaccine for whooping cough are given at 2, 4, 6, and 12-18 months of age. Unfortunately, although babies younger than 2 months can get whooping cough, the vaccine isn't effective before about 2 months. However, keeping older kids immune (the last dose of whooping cough vaccine is given at 5 years of age) helps prevent them from bringing the bug home from school. Immunity after vaccination seems to wear off after 5-10 years. Side effects of the previous vaccine prevented us from immunizing adults routinely. However, there is now a new vaccine, Adacel®, which combines a modified pertussis vaccine suitable for and effective in adults with the adult vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria. (I know all about it -- I received my dose of TdaP today *smile*). Although there is some debate among infectious-disease experts, many believe that someone who has full-blown B. pertussis infection will be immune to B. pertussis for life. Experts in infections have suggested immunizing teens and even adults to try and reduce the number of infections in the population at large, which would cut down on small children's chances of getting whooping cough, and Adacel® is now recommended for that purpose.

The whooping-cough vaccines are made from inactivated B. pertussis. For many years the vaccine was prepared from whole bacterial cells (killed chemically). This induced immunity quite well. However, it also produced many side effects, from fever (up to 103 or 104, and lasting 1-2 days) and pain at the injection site, to seizures (fortunately very rare). When I give whooping-cough vaccine I always give Tylenol just before the shot and tell parents to continue giving Tylenol regularly for two days, whether or not the child seems to need it. The side effects of the whooping-cough vaccine are a definite problem, but I and most other pediatricians feel that the risk of having whooping cough far outweighs the risks of getting the vaccine. We are now starting to use vaccines from which the parts of the B. pertussis cells have been removed; in clinical trials these "acellular" vaccines seem to produce fewer side effects than the older vaccines -- although I still usually give Tylenol for two days with every dose of pertussis vaccine.

The whooping-cough vaccine is usually combined with the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines and given as a single shot; this is often referred to as DTaP (the a stands for "acellular"). We now have a single vaccine which combines DTaP, the injectable polio vaccine, and the hepatitis B vaccine into one shot; this can be given at ages 2, 4, and 6 months, eliminating six pokes while still giving immunity to all five diseases. The new TdaP vaccine (see above) is recommended for teenagers and for adults. As always, ask your doctor for complete details.

Answer 4

YES ..... that real pain, irritating, pathetic....!! The best way to relax, be kool and under medication. Any believe that nothing has happened...!!! Adopt get well soon policy.

Answer 5

yes,follow the antibiotic treatment,and stay away from people that may be infected