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An unpleasant but not serious infection in adults can be fatal for a very young baby… Get to know how to protect babies from whooping cough…

A group of paediatric doctors have suggested that parents of new babies should have booster vaccinations for whooping cough to protect their newborns. In an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they say evidence is growing that whooping cough is on the rise in teens and adults, putting at risk the lives of babies who haven’t even received their first whooping cough jab. These babies account for most whooping cough-related complications, hospitalisations and deaths from the disease. And most catch it from other household members — more than half the time from their parents.

What’s particularly worrying is that because whooping cough symptoms are different in adults than in children. Parents are unlikely to realise they have the infection and could pass it on to their baby.
Here’s why whooping cough is such a danger and how best to protect a baby…

THE REAL THREAT

While official figures are low, it’s thought many are undiagnosed. Older children and adults tend not to be so ill or develop the distinctive whooping sound, so it’s likely for people to think they’ve just got a bad cough. A 2006 study published in the BMJ, revealed nearly 40 per cent of school-age kids visiting their doctor with a cough tested positive for pertussis (the bacterial infection that causes whooping cough) — despite the fact that most of them had been vaccinated. So although the jab offers some protection, it’s not 100 per cent and it’s not life-long. However it can mean that subsequent infections are milder than they’d have been.

THE DANGERS

Whooping cough is an infection with a bacterium called pertussis, which settles in the nose, throat and lungs and is spread by coughing. You can get it at any age if you haven’t been immunized or the jab has worn off. Babies are at risk from the day they’re born because no immunity is passed on from the mother — it’s much more dangerous to them because their immune systems haven’t developed properly yet. In babies, the infection can become what’s known as ‘invasive’. The bacterium produces a toxin that can make its way past the baby’s undeveloped defences and into the brain, leading to meningitis and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

Because their immune system is already under attack, they’re also more vulnerable to other serious complications such as pneumonia. Adults are likely to recover fully, thinking they’ve just had a very bad cough.

SPOTTING THE SYMPTOMS

Whooping cough can be difficult to spot at first, as symptoms are very similar to a cold — for instance, a runny nose, cough and fever. Then after a week or so the cough can become severe, with prolonged bouts which often end in vomiting — in babies and young children the cough also has a high-pitched whooping sound as they try to draw air through the inflamed larynx. The reason older kids and adults don’t get the whoop is because their larynxes are bigger, so they have no problem drawing enough air in. The illness also tends to be less severe because their immune systems are more robust. The cough can last for about two months.

LOOK OUT FOR…

• Prolonged bouts of coughing, often with a whooping sound

• Fever

• Vomiting

• Breathlessness

• Listlessness

• Lips with a bluish tinge (this can be a sign of pneumonia — seek urgent medical help)

• Dehydration — in babies the fontanelle (the soft bit on the top of the head) becomes concave

DAILY MIRROR

Whooping cough may seem to be an ordinary cough for us adults, but its fatal for the babies, and we did learn how fatal it is and how it can be diagnoised at an early stage. Do post your comments and feedbackas to how helpful this article proves to be.

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