Whooping Cough- It’s Causes

What is Whooping Cough?

Whooping (pertussis) is an acute, highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a bacterium. The first outbreaks of pertussis were described in the 16th century. The bacterium responsible for the infection, Bordetella pertussis, was not isolated until 1906. The incidence of pertussis has been steadily increasing since the 1980s. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 25,827 cases of pertussis were reported in 2004 in the U.S.

An infectious condition caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis.

•Whooping Cough: A species of gram-negative, aerobic bacteria that is the causative agent of WHOOPING COUGH. Its cells are minute coccobacilli that are surrounded by a slime sheath.

Whooping can occur at any age, but is is most common in unimmunized children and in infants under 1 year of age.

Whooping is also called Pertussis.

What Causes Whooping Cough?

Whooping is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis Bordetella pertussis is also called B. pertussis.

Once inside your airways, the bacteria multiply and produce toxins that interfere with your respiratory tract's ability to sweep away germs. Thick mucus accumulates inside your airways, causing uncontrollable coughing.

The bacteria also cause inflammation that narrows breathing tubes in your lungs. This narrowing leaves you gasping for air — sucking in air with a high-pitched "whoop" — after a fit of coughing.

Whooping is spread by contact with droplets coughed out by someone with the disease or by contact with recently contaminated hard surfaces upon which the droplets landed. The bacteria thrive in the respiratory passages where they produce toxins that damage the tiny hairs (cilia) that are needed to remove particulate matter and cellular debris that are normally introduced into the airways with each breath.

Whooping is highly contagious. Between 75%-100% of unimmunized household contacts of a person with pertussis will develop the disease.

If one child in a group of siblings gets it, the other children are extremely likely to become

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infected if they have not already had the disease or been vaccinated.

This also includes babies. Although infants who are breastfed are usually protected against most common childhood infections, they receive no protection against whooping cough. This is why early vaccination is recommended.

• Whooping is infectious from the first sneezes and throughout the course of the disease, which can last for up to eight weeks. This is a much longer period than with other children's diseases.

Some others causes of Whooping :

Whooping is caused by inhalation of the airborne droplets of someone infected with pertussis . A person with pertussis who coughs or sneezes around an unvaccinated person may spread the disease readily. Pertussis is a virus, once nearly eradicated in the US after vaccinations became a standard part of well-child examinations.

Recently, however, whooping has made somewhat of a comeback because some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated for the illness. Also, those who come to the US illegally may not have received whooping vaccinations and may carry the disease into the country, exposing those with either poor immune system or who have not been vaccinated.