Whooping Cough and other horrible diseases

When I was just a little baby boomer, back in the 50's, we had ALL of the diseases that most of today's parents have never seen. My cousin, Danny, got polio; another cousin became deaf after a case of mumps. Now, immunizations have made those serious childhood diseases extremely rare. Some, like smallpox, are completely gone. Others, like polio and measles, are so rare in the U.S. that many medical providers have never seen a live case. However, they are NOT gone from this planet, and the world is becoming smaller and smaller. These diseases and others are less than a plane trip away.

Pertussis is nothing to whoop about. Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is highly contagious bacterial disease that can kill infants and young children in a flash. In unvaccinated populations pertussis is endemic, and in undeveloped regions of the world infant and childhood mortality rates are high. Improvements in supportive treatment in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent development of antibiotics reduced mortality rates from pertussis; however, the incidence did not drop until the early 1950s, when the immunization of infants and children became prevalent. Before widespread immunization, the annual incidence in the United States was about 200,000 cases, compared with a recent annual incidence of about 4,000 cases. Treated early and effectively with antibiotics, infant deaths are now rare. If we stopped the pertussis vaccine today, we should expect 9,000 deaths per year.

Interestingly, pertussis is now on the rise again due primarily to an increase in the proportion of unvaccinated individuals in the very young population, but from immigration and non-compliance. A significant number of parents are withholding pertussis vaccine from their children. Do we really need another good 'ol epidemic to get the message out that immunizations SAVE LIVES?

In the early stages, pertussis looks like a common cold - runny nose, red eyes, low-grade fever, sneezing, and of course, a nighttime cough. However, it is this early stage, that pertussis is most contagious. Parents will send these kids to school and day-care. About a week or so later, the cough will worsen. It will be frequent, forceful, and may have that "whoop" that older folks remember, and young parents have never heard. Along with these frequent harsh, spasmodic, coughing attacks, will come cyanosis, sweating, exhaustion, expulsion of copious amounts of thick phlegm, and vomiting - not a pretty picture. At this stage, many will have developed pneumonia, the most serious complication.

The organism that causes pertussis can be cultured from the nose in the early stages, IF your medical provider is suspicious that this is more than "just a cold". Unfortunately, the likelihood of obtaining a positive culture starts to decrease at about the time in the course of the illness when the diagnosis of pertussis becomes obvious.

If diagnosed, antibiotic therapy can stop the progression and spread of the disease if it is given during the incubation period or the early stage. Later, antibiotics will not really affect the course of this disease, but may help prevent complications. Wouldn't it be easier just to PREVENT pertussis in the first place?

Children under 7 years of age should be immunized with pertussis vaccine. Pertussis vaccine is one of the three components in the routine DTaP shot given to infants, combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. Other than a little soreness at the injection site, serious reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare, but unfortunately do happen. Serious allergic reactions occur about 1: 1,000,000, about twice the risk of being struck by lightning. To put that in other relative risk perspectives; the risk of dying in a traffic accident is 1:800, smoking 1/2 pack per day 1:400. Need I say more?

Related Topics: Why Immunize Our Children?, Keeping Catchy Infections Contained

Tags: pertussis, whoopingcough, immunization