Whooping Cough

Whooping cough – Every mother’s nightmare, having said that regardless of any illness a child suffers will cause any parent to worry. No mom wants to see her child ill because they feel helpless at times like this. However we have doctors to help make baby better.

Whooping cough known medically as pertussis — is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. I know sounds scary but most medical terms referring to different ailments usually are. Although  Whooping cough initially is similar to that of the common cold, whooping cough can turn more serious particularly in infants. Listening to a child with full bore coughing bouts is not very nice and less so for the discomfort caused to the ailing child. In the more advanced stages Whooping cough is marked by a severe hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like "whoop."

The incidence of whooping cough has been increasing, primarily among children too young to have completed the full course of vaccinations and teenagers whose immunity has faded. With appropriate treatment, adolescents and grownups recover from whooping cough without complications. As with all conditions we have the mild and the not so mild parts. With Whooping cough it can be more serious in babies younger than 6 months of age. If an adult or baby is infected with the bacterium that causes whooping cough, it takes about three to 12 days for signs and symptoms to appear. They usually start off mild and quite often confused with the symptoms of a cold.

Symptoms normally include:

• A runny nose 
  Nasal congestion 
  Sneezing 
  Red, watery eyes 
  Light fever 
  Dry cough 
  Ill feeling and loss of appetite

As the condition progresses so do the symptoms worsen. These may include

1 Severe coughing attacks and producing thick phlegm 
2  Repetitive coughing attacks — up to fifteen in a row 
3 In kiddies, severe coughing that leads to vomiting and noticeable signs of the face reddening or turning blue
4 Tiredness from coughing

In grownups symptoms of whooping cough can appear like that of bronchitis, a respiratory infection that causes a nagging cough. Severe bouts of coughing can result in tiny red spots caused by ruptures in blood vessels at the skin's surface (petechiae) in the upper body, as well as small regions of bleeding in the whites of the eyes. Nevertheless you can suffer from an ordinary cough and still have blood vessels burst.
You may even bruise or break a rib if your coughing episodes are severe. Coughing may be worse at night. You may not feel a rib break however, you will definitely feel it. Have your GP check you over if you have severe pain from the ribcage.

If your baby who you know best shows signs that they are not well even without coughing, still have your doctor examine the child. We have many diseases connected to young children like chicken pox measles mumps and meningitis. Get the all clear for your baby so he she does not suffer from something that you as their mother might believe is a condition that can be treated with over thecounter medication.