Whooping Cough
PKIDS, a national nonprofit whose mission is to educate the public about infectious diseases, is currently trying to raise awareness of the dangers of pertussis, which is more commonly known as "whooping cough."
Classic pertussis usually starts with normal cold symptoms. After about two weeks, however, coughing becomes increasingly severe. This stage can last for weeks or even months. Patients may have 15-24 coughing attacks a day.
Pertussis is on the rise right now, from 1,010 reported cases in 1976 to over 25,000 reported cases in 2004. The number of misdiagnosed and unreported cases may actually be nearly a million. More than half of all whooping cough cases are spread from parents to children when the mom or dad thinks they just have a cold or bronchitis.
One of the best ways to protect babies from pertussis is to make sure that anyone in close contact with them is vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control is recommending that adults and adolescents receive a pertussis booster vaccination to prevent the spread of pertussis among young children before they can be fully vaccinated themselves.
Visit the PKIDS website and educate yourself about pertussis!
Classic pertussis usually starts with normal cold symptoms. After about two weeks, however, coughing becomes increasingly severe. This stage can last for weeks or even months. Patients may have 15-24 coughing attacks a day.
Pertussis is on the rise right now, from 1,010 reported cases in 1976 to over 25,000 reported cases in 2004. The number of misdiagnosed and unreported cases may actually be nearly a million. More than half of all whooping cough cases are spread from parents to children when the mom or dad thinks they just have a cold or bronchitis.
One of the best ways to protect babies from pertussis is to make sure that anyone in close contact with them is vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control is recommending that adults and adolescents receive a pertussis booster vaccination to prevent the spread of pertussis among young children before they can be fully vaccinated themselves.
Visit the PKIDS website and educate yourself about pertussis!
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 3:23 PM
1 Comments:
My childhood neighbour had wooping cough when she was a baby. It left her with some pretty profound learning difficulties.
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