Bordetella pertussis is a bacterium that causes disease of the respiratory tract in humans, commonly known as whooping cough. Usually catarrhal symptoms occur within 7-20 days of contact with the pertussis bacterium. The disease typically develops in three stages:
Catarrhal - Non specific symptoms similar to that of a common cold. Includes a sore throat, rhinorrhea and cough. this usually lasts for two weeks.
Spasmodic - Recurring coughing episodes that may result in facial discolouration and cyanosis. These coughing episodes are usually accompanied with deep inspiration (whooping) and vomiting. they occur more commonly during the night and can be triggered by external stimuli. Between coughing episodes there are usually few clinical
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The development of the pertussis vaccine has lead to a significant reduction worldwide in the incidences and severity of pertussis, however it is still a leading cause vaccine preventable deaths, particularly in infants. In 2008, the world health organisation reported an estimated 195,000 paediatric deaths and 16 million cases per year.
Pertussis is a human specific bacterium, that us unable to survive outside of a host. It is highly infectious and estimated that a single infected person can infect 15-17 other people. It can be spread through direct contact from secretions of the infected persons secretions for their throat or nose. It can also be spread via airborne droplets when the infected person coughs or sneezes. Untreated cases remain infectious for approximately three weeks after the onset of symptoms. No evidence has been found for a prolonged carrier state, although during epidemics asymptomatic patients have been …show more content…
A culture of secretions can be taken from the patient via a pernasal swab and cultured under laboratory conditions. This form of diagnosis is highly specific but can become less sensitive as the disease duration increases. The culture growth takes 3-7 days and is gram-negative. Polymerase chain reaction analysis is also specific and more sensitive than a culture. It is used to detect pertussis bacterium DNA sequences. This technique can be used after the patients has already begun antibiotics and does not require a living bacterium to be effective. Serology is mostly used for patients in the convalescent stage of the disease when a culture sample is unlikely to return positive. this test may not be effective in people who have recently received a vaccination for pertussis, or in infants that may not produce a measurable number of antibodies.
Antibiotics are used to treat pertussis. Clarithromycin, Erythromycin and Azithromycin are most commonly used. Clarithromycin is known as a macrolide antibiotic. It can be administered to patients who are allergic to penicillin. It is effective at treating respiratory and skin bacterial infections. Clarithromycin works by preventing the bacteria from producing proteins essential to their survival, leaving them unable to multiply and eventually die or become destroyed by the immune
The development of the pertussis vaccine has lead to a significant reduction worldwide in the incidences and severity of pertussis, however it is still a leading cause vaccine preventable deaths, particularly in infants. In 2008, the world health organisation reported an estimated 195,000 paediatric deaths and 16 million cases per year.
Pertussis is a human specific bacterium, that us unable to survive outside of a host. It is highly infectious and estimated that a single infected person can infect 15-17 other people. It can be spread through direct contact from secretions of the infected persons secretions for their throat or nose. It can also be spread via airborne droplets when the infected person coughs or sneezes. Untreated cases remain infectious for approximately three weeks after the onset of symptoms. No evidence has been found for a prolonged carrier state, although during epidemics asymptomatic patients have been …show more content…
A culture of secretions can be taken from the patient via a pernasal swab and cultured under laboratory conditions. This form of diagnosis is highly specific but can become less sensitive as the disease duration increases. The culture growth takes 3-7 days and is gram-negative. Polymerase chain reaction analysis is also specific and more sensitive than a culture. It is used to detect pertussis bacterium DNA sequences. This technique can be used after the patients has already begun antibiotics and does not require a living bacterium to be effective. Serology is mostly used for patients in the convalescent stage of the disease when a culture sample is unlikely to return positive. this test may not be effective in people who have recently received a vaccination for pertussis, or in infants that may not produce a measurable number of antibodies.
Antibiotics are used to treat pertussis. Clarithromycin, Erythromycin and Azithromycin are most commonly used. Clarithromycin is known as a macrolide antibiotic. It can be administered to patients who are allergic to penicillin. It is effective at treating respiratory and skin bacterial infections. Clarithromycin works by preventing the bacteria from producing proteins essential to their survival, leaving them unable to multiply and eventually die or become destroyed by the immune