How is whooping cough diagnosed in babies

Pertussis is most dangerous for babies. About half of babies younger than 1 year who get the disease need care in the hospital. Learn more about pertussis complications. Pertussis in its early stages appears to be nothing more than the common cold. Therefore, healthcare professionals often do not suspect or diagnose it until the more severe symptoms appear. After 1 to 2 weeks and as the disease progresses, the traditional symptoms of pertussis may appear and include:.

Instead it causes them to stop breathing and turn blue. Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from your lungs. This extreme coughing can cause you to throw up and be very tired. Although you are often exhausted after a coughing fit, you usually appear fairly well in-between.

Coughing fits generally become more common and bad as the illness continues, and can occur more often at night.

The coughing fits can go on for up to 10 weeks or more. The infection is generally milder in teens and adults, especially those who have gotten the pertussis vaccine. Whooping cough also called pertussis is a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes. It spreads very easily. Whooping cough can spread very easily.

It's best to call the GP before you go in. They might suggest talking over the phone. Whooping cough is less severe in older children and adults but coughing may cause problems including:. If your whooping cough is severe, or your baby is under 6 months old and has whooping cough, you'll usually need treatment in hospital.

Slightly less than half of older babies with the disease are initially treated in the hospital, too. This more intensive care can decrease the chances of complications. These complications can include pneumonia, which occurs in slightly less than one fourth of children under one year old who have whooping cough. If your child is older, they are more likely to be treated only at home. While in the hospital, your child may need to have the thick respiratory secretions suctioned.

Their breathing will be monitored, and they may need to be given oxygen. Your child will be isolated from other patients to keep the infection from spreading to them. Whooping cough is treated with an antibiotic that is most effective when given in the first stage of illness, before the coughing spells begin.

Although antibiotics can stop the spread of the whooping cough infection, they cannot prevent or treat the cough itself. Because cough medicines do not relieve the coughing spells, your pediatrician probably will recommend other forms of home treatment to help manage the cough.

Ask your pediatrician for instructions on the best position for your child to help drain those secretions and improve breathing. Also ask whether antibiotics or vaccine boosters need to be given to others in your household to prevent them from developing the disease.

Your child should stay home from child care until finishing five days of antibiotics. The best way to protect your child against pertussis is with DTaP vaccination immunizations at two months, four months, and six months of age, and booster shots at twelve to eighteen months and at four or five years of age or prior to starting school.

See Recommended Immunization Schedules. Parents or family members who will be in close contact with babies younger than one year old should also receive the Tdap booster. This lowers the risk of passing the infection to the infant.

In addition, all women who are pregnant should get the Tdap vaccine during each pregnancy. This allows mothers to pass on protection against pertussis to their newborns. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Skip Ribbon Commands. Skip to main content. Turn off Animations.