How to recognize whooping cough?
Symptoms of whooping cough
Whooping cough is characterized by spasmodic strong coughing and wheezing, he says Health Library. Cough occurs especially at night.
about this Bordetella pertussis –Bacterial pneumonia and bronchitis. THL: n According to hWhooping cough is spread by a droplet infection from an infected person. The infectiousness of the disease is worst in the early stages and decreases as the disease progresses.
Finnish children are vaccinated against whooping cough, and the first three doses are given at 3, 5 and 12 months of age, with a booster dose at 4 and 14-15 years of age. Adults receive booster doses in the military or at age 25.
If an unvaccinated child contracts whooping cough, the consequences can be life-threatening. Whooping cough can lead to pneumonia.
At first, whooping cough resembles a common cold, but over the next few days the cough becomes paroxysmal, and it becomes difficult to catch your breath during an attack. According to the Health Library, skin color begins to turn blue and shortness of breath begins. There may be dozens of coughing fits a day. However, you can usually do well between attacks and have no fever.
The pertussis vaccine is not completely effective, so people other than unvaccinated people can get sick, recently Infections are especially common in middle school age. Varsinais-Suomen values well-being Varhan According to hWhooping cough is easily spread among young people in schools, and there is still no time to increase school hours.
If a vaccinated child or adult develops whooping cough, it is a different form of the disease. This illness includes a persistent dry or runny cough for weeks, especially at night. The cough is spasmodic and strong, but there is no wheezing or suffocation.
When is the treatment?
A child under six months should be treated especially if they have a cough or frequent wheezing. Sometimes the attacks are very mild at first and don’t cause a whooping cough.
– If there is a suspicion of whooping cough in the family and children under six months of age or children under one year of age who have not received two doses of pertussis vaccine, the diagnosis should be made as soon as possible, he says. Dykes is a pediatric infectious disease physician Paula Tähtinen Bulletin.
However, if the family does not have children under one year of age, according to Varha, there is no need for urgent tests for children older than this if the child’s health is good.
Whooping cough is diagnosed from the secretion of the nasopharynx and is treated with a course of antibiotics in the early stages. The sooner treatment is started, the better the outcome.
– In all epidemic control, when there is an unusually long cough, we apply for an investigation and allow a doctor to treat the disease, the division said. Head of Hus Diagnostics Lasse Lehtonen For MTV News Before.
According to THL, antibiotics won’t help an illness that lasts more than two weeks, but symptoms gradually disappear over several weeks.
