PERTUSIS

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a disease of the respiratory tract caused by bacteria that live in the mouth, nose, and throat. Many children who contact pertussis have coughing spells that last 4 to 8 weeks. The disease is most dangerous in infants. In 2000, an estimated 39 million cases and 297 000 deaths occurred worldwide, due to pertussis (1).

Mode of transmission
Pertussis spreads very easily from child to child in droplets produced by coughing or sneezing. Children exposed to the germs become infected. In many countries the disease occurs in regular epidemic cycles of 3 to 5 years (1).

Signs and symptoms
The incubation period is 5 to 10 days. At first, the infected child appears to have a common cold with runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, fever, and a mild cough. The cough gradually worsens, and involves many bursts of rapid coughing. At the end of these bursts the child takes in air with a high-pitched whoop. The child may turn blue because he or she does not get enough oxygen during a long burst of coughing. Vomiting and exhaustion often follow the coughing attacks, which are particularly frequent at night.

During recovery coughing gradually becomes less intense. Children usually do not have a high fever during any stage of the illness.