Pertussis
Pertusis - also known as Wooping Cough - is a highly contageous respiroator infection characterized by hacking choughing fits; when the patient inhales a high-pitched "whoop" sound is heard. Pertussis is more serious in children, especially infants less than 6 months old.
Signs and Symptoms
Early symptoms are usually mild, seeming more like a common cold than anything else. Symptoms can include
- Runny Nose
- Congestion
- Sneezing
- Watery Eyes
- Mild Fever
- Dry Cough
- Loss of Appetite
- Feeling unwell
After a week or two, the symptoms become worse and begin to include:
- Sever coughing attacks that bring up thick mucus
- Coughing attacks that end with a high pitched "whoop" as they inhale again
- Red or blue face in children from coughing so hard
- Fatigue from coughing so hard
Call your doctor or homeopath immediately if you experience prolonged, severe coughing spells, especially if these spells make you turn red or blue, are followed by vomiting or occur together with a whooping sound when inhaling. Call your child's doctor if your child experiences any of the same symptoms.
Potential Complications
Teenagers and adults
Usually recover with no complications. If they do occur, at worst, they include a bruised or broke rib or perhaps a hernia due to the exertion during coughing spells.
Children
Because children's bones are softer, broken ribs aren't nearly as likely, though they cna still bruise their chest wall muscles or develop a hearnia.
Infants
Complications (especially for infants less than 6 months old) are more severe and may include:
- Ear infections (also a potential side effect of the immunization)
- Pneumonia
- Slowed or stopped breathing
- Dehydration
- Seizures
- Brain Damage
Infants and young children are more likely to need hospitilization due to the greatest risk for complications, especially under the age of 6 months as they can be life-threatening.
The Vaccination
There are at least seven different vaccinations that contain the Pertussis vaccine. None of them are single vaccine injections; they all include at least one other and up to a total of five vaccines in one jab (Pediatrix)
- ADACEL
- Sanifo Pasteur
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis
- Boostrix
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis
- DAPTACEL
- Sanofi Pasteur
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis
- Infanrix
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis
- Pediarix
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Diphteria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis B, and Polio
- TriHiBit (Also known as ActHib)
- Sanofi Pasteur
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Hib
- Tripedia
- Sanofi Pastuer
- Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis
Clicking on the drug name will open the Drug Insert Sheet that all drug manufacturers must create and distrubte with each bottle of vaccine. In these sheets you will find their description of ingredients, how the vaccine was tested, the side effects and a list of contraindications (people who should not recieve the vaccine). PLEASE investigate each one before deciding whether that particular vaccine is right for your child. Weigh the risks of the disease against the risks of the vaccine. You can treat the disease, you can't take back a vaccine once its been given.
More Resources
- Pertussis Information by Hilary Butler
- DPT: Five Vaccines in One
- Mayo Clinic information on Pertussis
Choice
There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
~Denis Waitley
Melissa
Melissa is a 35 year old Army wife to her deployed husband, and the mother of three girls. Two are toddlers and the third is a teen, lending to her bouts of insanty. Melissa and her husband Tom are still deciding whether or not they will have "one more" while Melissa tries to figure out how to convince Tom that homebirth is a good thing.
