Whooping cough may sound like a disease of the past, but it’s actually a serious condition that is becoming more common. In fact, in 2003, almost 12,000 new cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, emerged in the United States. While young children are particularly at risk for serious complications, the disease can affect people at all ages.

What Is Pertussis?
Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the airways. And it’s highly contagious. Early symptoms mirror those of a cold, including sneezing, runny nose, dry cough and a mild fever. But instead of getting better after a couple of weeks, your condition worsens. You may have intense coughing spells, which can cause you to vomit. You may be unable to eat or drink. Whooping cough gets its name because people often make a whooping noise as they gasp for air during these coughing fits.

When to seek Treatment
Although most coughs due to colds will resolve on their own without any treatment, there are some warning signs that require medical attention.

They include:

• Coughing up blood or thick, colored mucus
• Cough that keeps getting worse
• Bluish tint around the mouth
• Drooling or vomiting with cough
• Passing out because of cough
• A wet-sounding cough with stringy mucus
• Petechiae, which are small red spots on the upper body’s skin or in the whites of the eyes
• Trouble breathing or a whooping sound

Prevention Is the Best Medicine
With whooping cough, antibiotics may help, but they work only when given early in the infection stage. Your best defense is to get vaccinated.

Children need a series of vaccinations known as DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus- acellular pertussis) before age 6. A schedule is listed below.

Adults ages 19 to 64 need a single dose of Tdap if it has been 10 years or more since they received their last dose of tetanus toxoid–containing vac - cine (Td, for example). This replaces a booster shot of Td that immunizes against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

If you’re interested in additional vaccine recommendations, you can visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov.

DTaP Vaccination schedule
Children:

• 2 months
• 4 months
• 6 months
• 15 to 18 months
• 4 to 6 years

Adolescents:

• 11 to 18 years: a single dose of the Tdap vaccine (tetanus-diphtheriapertussis) if they have completed the recommended childhood DTap vaccination series (above)