Also called: Also called: Pertussis
Whooping cough is an infectious bacterial disease that causes uncontrollable coughing. The name comes from the noise you make when you take a breath after you cough. You may have choking spells or may cough so hard that you vomit.
Anyone can get whooping cough, but it is more common in infants and children. It's especially dangerous in infants. The coughing spells can be so bad that it is hard for infants to eat, drink or breathe.
Before there was a vaccine, whooping cough was one of the most common childhood diseases and a major cause of childhood deaths in the U.S. There are fewer cases today because there are both pertussis-only vaccines and combination vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. If you have whooping cough, treatment with antibiotics may help if given early.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Whooping Cough(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/whooping-cough/DS00445/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
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Whooping Cough (Pertussis)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/whooping_cough.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/infecciones/whooping_cough_esp.html
- Pertussis (Whooping Cough)(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZPWVII1AC&sub_cat=286
- Controlling Whooping Cough Outbreaks(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/305_cough.html
- Current Vaccine Shortages and Delays(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/shortages/
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Diphtheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine: What You Need to Know(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-dtap.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.immunize.org/vis/spdtap01.pdf
- Diphtheria: Health Information for International Travel(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh4-Diphtheria.aspx
- Pertussis Photos(Immunization Action Coalition) - http://www.vaccineinformation.org/pertuss/photos.asp
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Whooping Cough
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Whooping+Cough%22
- Article: Pertussis vaccination for health care workers. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18625679&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Current issues in adolescent immunization. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18617295&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: The promise and challenge of adolescent immunization. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18617084&tool=MedlinePlus
- Whooping Cough -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(whooping+cough[majr]+OR+pertussis+vaccine[majr])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
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National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
- FASTATS: Whooping Cough(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/whooping.htm
- Pertussis Hospitalizations in Young Children(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/pertussis/pertussis.htm
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Whooping Cough (Pertussis)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/whooping_cough.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/infecciones/whooping_cough_esp.html
- Woes of Whooping Cough(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/heart/whooping_cough.html
- Childhood Immunization - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childhoodimmunization.html
- Cough - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cough.html
- Children and Teenagers - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childrenandteenagers.html
- Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html
- Lungs and Breathing - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lungsandbreathing.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Whooping Cough is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/
Whooping Cough - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/whoopingcough.html