What You Need to Know About Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
What is pertussis (whooping cough)?
Whooping cough is a respiratory sickness. It can start like a regular cold, but the coughing can last for weeks or months. It’s caused by a bacteria.
Whooping cough is known for the “whoop” noise that someone makes when gasping for air after a coughing fit. It’s very contagious (spreads easily from person to person).
What are the symptoms?
Whooping cough can have early symptoms and late symptoms.
Early symptoms can look like a regular or common cold and can last for 1-2 weeks. They can include:
Runny or stuffy nose
Low-grade fever (less than 100.4)
Mild cough that happens every once and a while
Later symptoms (happen after the first 1-2 weeks) normally get worse. Coughing can get worse (especially at night) and becomes uncontrolled. Intense coughing attacks may cause:
Vomiting.
A red or blue face.
Extreme tiredness.
A high-pitched "whoop" sound during the next breath of air.
Babies may show different symptoms and may not cough at all. Babies and young children might:
Gag or struggle to breathe.
Have skin, lips or nails that turn blue or purple.
Have life-threatening pauses in breathing called apnea.
How does it spread?
The bacteria that cause whooping cough spread easily from person to person through the air. When a person with whooping cough sneezes or coughs, they release small particles with the bacteria in them. People can spread the bacteria from the start of symptoms and for at least 2 weeks after coughing begins.
People can spread the bacteria without knowing they have it. Many babies who get whooping cough are infected by older siblings, parents, or caregivers who don't know they have it.
Is it serious?
Babies younger than 1 year old are at greatest risk for getting whooping cough and having severe complications from it. Age and underlying medical conditions can increase someone's risk of getting a severe case of whooping cough. Also, pertussis (whooping cough) can make conditions like moderate to severe asthma worse.
Many teenagers and adults can recover from whooping cough without any problems. However, health problems can happen because of intense coughing fits, such as:
Bruised or cracked ribs.
Tissue that bulges through a weak spot in the muscles of the stomach area, called an abdominal hernia.
Broken blood vessels in the skin or the whites of the eyes.
Teens and adults also can have:
Loss of bladder control.
Weight loss.
Fainting.
How to prevent whooping cough
Your chances of getting whooping cough can be lowered by getting the pertussis vaccine. It’s normally in a combined vaccine, such as DTaP (stands for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis). The vaccine is given to children in a series of 5 shots. It’s normally given at the following ages:
2 months
4 months
6 months
15 to 18 months
4 to 6 years
Preteens also get a vaccine at 11 to 12 years old.
Booster doses are also given to adults about every 10 years. The booster dose may be called Tdap (stands for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis). Other groups that may need booster doses include teens and pregnant women. If you’re pregnant, you should get a new Tdap booster during each pregnancy. This helps to give some protection to the baby during their first few months after being born.
Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent pertussis. However, as normal infection patterns return to the United States after the pandemic, CDC expects pertussis cases to increase both in unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Pertussis can happen in vaccinated people because protection from vaccine fades over time. This is also why Tdap boosters are important.
People who've had whooping cough have some immunity to future whooping cough infections. But, getting sick with whooping cough doesn't provide lifelong protection.
What to do if you think you have whooping cough
If you know that you’ve been exposed to whooping cough, make sure to let your doctor know. This will help the doctor to get you the right testing and make sure no one else is exposed.
Most people with whooping cough can recover and take care of themselves at home, but it can be very serious for babies.
If you are diagnosed with whooping cough, the health department will call you for a disease interview. This is to give you information about the disease and ensure that whooping cough doesn’t spread to other members of the community.
Resources to learn more
Disease Surveillance- Pertussis