Whooping cough: symptoms

Pertussis symptoms are characteristic, as a rule this disease belongs to the category of children's infectious diseases, which are acute with obvious clinical manifestations.

The wand causing the disease is Bordetella pertussis, a bacterium that dies without the comfortable environment of the human body. Thus, in the external environment the bacterium can not live and the source of infection can only be a person. Especially active bacteria in the first two weeks of the disease, given that the susceptibility to it is very high in both children and adults, the infection spreads literally instantaneously. If the immune system is weakened, contact with a sick person is fraught with almost one hundred percent infection and disease. Pertussis, the symptoms of which are characterized by a cough, is transmitted only through the air and liquid, that is, by airborne droplets, mostly in dry, frequent coughing attacks. This manifestation can not be neutralized by the usual syrups and warming that is practiced at home.

Coughing is not controlled by conventional antitussive therapy, so Bordetella (Bordetella pertussis stick) can infect anyone who is in close contact with an infected person. Despite the fact that this disease is called a nursery, it is quite often that adults are ill, but in a non-typical, atypical form. Undiagnosed cases in adults can cause infection of children who have not yet developed an immune response to this disease. Innate immunity does not exist, but the ill person maintains an adequate immune response throughout his life. In pediatrics, it is believed that infants of preschool age are most prone to infection, it is the most dangerous for children from the first birthday to two years. Incubation of the bacteria lasts about a week (from 5 to 9 days), if the body is absolutely healthy and the immunity tries to resist, then the incubation period can last up to three weeks.

Pertussis symptoms are clinically apparent, they depend on the period: 

1. Catarrhal; 
2. Paroxysmal (intense, peak); 
3. Stage of recovery. 

Pertussis: symptoms of the catarrhal period

The disease begins with a cough that can be characterized as dry, persistent. It is often accompanied by nasal secretions (runny nose), subfebrile temperature. Typically, the danger of this phase is whether the disease is diagnosed as a respiratory disease or bronchopulmonary inflammation. Whooping cough symptoms at this time practically does not manifest, the disease has no typical symptoms and proceeds without increased temperature, and the patient (child, adult) continues to contact with others. The catarrhal stage is the most intensive time in terms of contagiosity, it is during this time period that a massive infection occurs. The stick allocated with a cough is active for two weeks. By the end of the second week, the cough intensifies, becomes more intense, especially at night, in the horizontal position of the body.

Peak period, paroxysmal

Cough passes into the stage of seizures. They are very typical for such a disease as whooping cough, the symptoms of which were not manifested at the first stage. Diagnosis at this time is usually accurate and there is no doubt. Paroxysms look like jogging series of seven to ten coughs, followed by a break and coughing "gusts" are repeated again. During a brief respite the patient tries to take a deep breath and has a peculiar wheezing sound. This inspiration in clinical practice was called a reprise. Paroxysm is resumed, cough seizures are accompanied by the release of a specific characteristic sputum, which either comes back in when ingested, or comes out, often through the nose. When swallowing a viscous secret, there is a vomiting reflex, so the body tries to remove the mucus. Cough is also accompanied by a strong reddening of the skin of the face. If more than a child, from the tension his face turns blue (cyanosis) or blushes so much that the microcapillaries of the eyeball and the vessels of the face burst (hemorrhagic syndrome). There is general fatigue, weakness, if pertussis symptoms show in the form of severe attacks of incessant coughing. The period of cough paroxysms is very long, sometimes it reaches three months, by the end of this stage the coughing jolts subsided and become weaker. Most of all, children suffer up to a year at this time. The cough reflex is weak in them, and the paroxysms look like an interruption in breathing. Such a delay of inspiration and exhalation can last more than a minute, which is very dangerous not only for the health of the newborn, but also for his life. The danger is short-term hypoxia, which in itself is fraught with neurological problems at least. 

Stage of recovery

This stage begins with the day when paroxysms become more rare and the intensity of the cough weakens. Whooping cough symptoms at this time is uncharacteristic, they depend on the general condition of the patient and on the presence or absence of concomitant diseases. As a rule, weakening of cough, a decrease in the number of seizures and their depths brings appreciable relief to the patient, but relapses of paroxysms are possible due to weakened immunity and the attachment of a secondary infection or virus. (ARVI, ARI).

Pertussis symptoms may show depending on the form. Disease in children under the age of one and a half years often takes place in a moderate form, in adults - in mild form, children who do not receive the vaccine are ill very ill in a timely manner, especially those under the age of six months. Vaccination is considered the most effective way to protect against this disease, even if infected, a person is much easier, and recovers much faster than unvaccinated patients.