Annually, about 195,000 deaths result from the estimated 16 million cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, worldwide. In the United States the numbers are significantly smaller due to the availability and development of the pertussis vaccine with an annual 10,000 to 40,000 reported cases and up to 20 deaths (Pertussis in Other Countries). Although a vaccine exists, there are still many cases of whooping cough and far more that go unreported. Precautions are being pushed onto infants all the way up to adolescents in hopes of decreasing the number of cases even more. The public may assume that pertussis is no big whoop, but it actually originates from a miniscule bacterium that develops into a fatal condition which is why the vaccine plays a
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According to Arthur Allen in Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver, the first ten days of pertussis will feel like “a typical respiratory infection, with some fever and malaise.” The second phase, called the paroxysmal stage, is usually when people catch on that the situation is more than just a mere cold. It consists of approximately three minute sessions of “a series of of explosive coughs, from ten to twenty in number, coming in such rapid succession that the child cannot get its breath between them.” Each cough will be marked with the infamous “whoop” sound that gives this disease its name. The child’s face will become purple from lack of oxygen and veins will become very prominent. These paroxysms will drain the child of energy, and it will become too difficult to stand. Whooping cough is the most dangerous for infants; it can cause them to turn blue and die since they do not make a “whoop” sound and are unable to breathe …show more content…
After contracting the disease, symptoms will develop “within five to ten days, but sometimes not for as long as three weeks.” The initial symptoms are similar to the common cold. This stage, called the catarrhal stage, includes a runny nose and a low fever as well as an occasional cough. The catarrhal stage is highly contagious and will last for one to two weeks before developing into the paroxysmal stage. This stage is where pertussis gets its other name, whooping cough. The stage lasts from one to ten weeks and mainly consists of fits of rapid coughing followed by a “whoop” sound. Other symptoms of this stage including vomiting and exhaustion. The coughing can worsen as time passes, occurring more often at night. The final stage is the convalescent stage. During this stage coughing lessens, but people, especially infants, are susceptible to other respiratory problems such as pneumonia. By this time most of the pertussis toxins in the body have died out. The convalescent stage lasts two to three weeks, but it may take longer to fully
According to Arthur Allen in Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver, the first ten days of pertussis will feel like “a typical respiratory infection, with some fever and malaise.” The second phase, called the paroxysmal stage, is usually when people catch on that the situation is more than just a mere cold. It consists of approximately three minute sessions of “a series of of explosive coughs, from ten to twenty in number, coming in such rapid succession that the child cannot get its breath between them.” Each cough will be marked with the infamous “whoop” sound that gives this disease its name. The child’s face will become purple from lack of oxygen and veins will become very prominent. These paroxysms will drain the child of energy, and it will become too difficult to stand. Whooping cough is the most dangerous for infants; it can cause them to turn blue and die since they do not make a “whoop” sound and are unable to breathe …show more content…
After contracting the disease, symptoms will develop “within five to ten days, but sometimes not for as long as three weeks.” The initial symptoms are similar to the common cold. This stage, called the catarrhal stage, includes a runny nose and a low fever as well as an occasional cough. The catarrhal stage is highly contagious and will last for one to two weeks before developing into the paroxysmal stage. This stage is where pertussis gets its other name, whooping cough. The stage lasts from one to ten weeks and mainly consists of fits of rapid coughing followed by a “whoop” sound. Other symptoms of this stage including vomiting and exhaustion. The coughing can worsen as time passes, occurring more often at night. The final stage is the convalescent stage. During this stage coughing lessens, but people, especially infants, are susceptible to other respiratory problems such as pneumonia. By this time most of the pertussis toxins in the body have died out. The convalescent stage lasts two to three weeks, but it may take longer to fully