Pertussis Essay

Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is a transmittable disease that occurs in the upper respiratory system and causes an unmanageable “whooping” cough which makes breathing hard to do. Pertussis is caused by a bacteria known as Bordtella pertussis, which liberates poisons and causes airways to expand. This bacterial disease is very contagious and lasts from six to ten weeks; antibiotics may reduce this time. Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing until the air is gone from the lungs. When there is not any more air in the lungs, you inhale a loud whooping sound (Medline Plus, 2017). Although cases of pertussis have dropped in the United States since the introduction of the pertussis vaccine, the disease has caused widespread outbreaks in recent years. Consequently, there were 348 cases reported this year, mostly infecting children between the ages of one to four (Utah Department of Health, 2017).
The pertussis bacteria usually spreads person to person by coughing, sneezing, or when spending a lot of time near one another where breathing space is shared. To …show more content…
To prevent pertussis, doctors often provide antibiotics like erythromycin which is used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria and the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDAP) vaccine for teenagers and adults and diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTAP) vaccines for younger children which includes five injections and is highly recommended when you are an infant. Vaccinations come with simple side effects such as the following: crankiness, fatigue, and headaches. Complications may occur afterwards including: pneumonia, nose bleeds, bleeding in the brain, and ear infections. Unimmunized children are not allowed to attend school and are isolated from everyone for about fourteen days (Medline Plus,