In many cases, whooping cough is often marked/characterized by’ a severe hacking cough’ which usually also followed by ‘whoop’ (a high-pitched of sound from the intake of breath). Several years ago, this disease was often considered/referred as a childhood disease (before the vaccine was discovered). But today, it is more common in individuals who over 11 of the age (adolescents & adults) and younger children who haven’t received vaccination. What else you need to know, particularly about whooping cough treatment and home remedies?Fortunately, the prognosis of whooping cough in older children and adults are relatively very good. The death rate for whooping cough in adults is very low, but this chance is high if it occurs in infants (less than 1 year of age). This is the reason why individuals (including pregnant women) who get a close contact/interaction with an infant must be vaccinated.
Furthermore, this disease is also often associated with pneumonia (a kind of inflammation in the lungs) which can be so serious if occurs in very young kids and elderly people (over 60 of the age).
Other complications may include: apnea, bleeding in the brain or other problems in the brain (like brain damage due to poor of O2), infections in the ear, seizure disorder, mental retardation, bleeding in the nose, and convulsions.
What is the whooping cough?
Whooping cough is also familiar known as ‘pertussis’. It can lead to violent & uncontrollable coughing which then usually cause difficulty to breathe. The disease is caused by bacterial what we call as ‘Bordetella parapertussis’ - a contagious bacterial (that’s why this disease is contagious).
When patient coughs/sneezes, tiny droplets that have/contain the bacteria will move through the air and then create a chance of spreading from person to person. And as mentioned before, vaccines are now available to lower the risk of having this disease.
Who is at high risk?
Anyone can get the infection of bordetella parapertussis. Fortunately, pertussis vaccines are now available, and they can help anyone to protect their body better from the chance of developing whooping cough. Nevertheless, according to CDC -- the vaccine is so helpful to minimize your risk, but it doesn’t completely rid of your risk of having this disease.
However pertussis is very contagious, and there is still a chance for anyone who has received fully-vaccine to have whooping cough, particularly for those who live in community where this disease is still circulating.
Moreover, the vaccine that you get in your childhood will decrease over time. That’s why CDC also recommends getting revaccination for adults, teens, and preteens. Talk more with the right authorities for more in-depth information, such as a local health department, most pharmacies, clinics, or your doctor /healthcare provider.
In addition, generally there are 2 currently types of pertussis vaccines (according to a published article on www.doh.wa.gov):
- “Diphtheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis” vaccines (or often called as ‘DTaP’). They are usually used for children who under 7 of the age.
- “Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis” vaccines (or often known as ‘Tdap’). This type is usually purposed for individuals who over 11 of the age and children aged 7-10 years of old who still don’t get a fully-vaccination against pertussis.
Once you get whooping cough, you may also experience it for the second time. In other words, this disease can occur for more than one time in one individual. Therefore, once again it is so important for your body to receive fully-vaccination.
Luckily, with good care -- many individuals who have whooping cough can successfully recover from the disease with no problems. Generally, the infection of whooping cough usually lasts about 6 weeks on average.
The goals of the whooping cough treatment are intended to treat the symptoms and restrict the infection to spread!
Antibiotics are one of the most important parts of the treatment, since the cause of pertussis is bacteria, and they usually can work most effectively to treat whooping cough at the early stage! But unfortunately the diagnosis of this disease is usually often late, because some whooping cough symptoms at early stage are the same as the common cold symptoms.
Furthermore, antibiotics are common choice to eliminate the spread of infection while a patient is waiting for ‘culture or PCR result’ to confirm her/his diagnosis. And family members are usually also considered to take preventive antibiotics to protect them from the infection.
What else you should know about the treatment of whooping cough?
At severe stage, an infected individual may also experience the deflection of O2 in her/his blood. For this case, patient needs an assistance of oxygen supply for a short time which usually can be done through O2-mask or nasal cannula.
For adults and older children -- they are usually allowed for home remedies. In other words, their whooping cough symptoms can be treated /managed at home without needing to stay at hospital.
On the other hand, for infants are typically hospitalized (particularly for those who are younger than four months) -- this is important to make sure that health professionals can keep monitoring better for the nutrient of the baby and the progress of whooping cough symptoms!
If you have choice to treat your whooping cough (pertussis) at home, the following are some common helpful tips (home remedies) to help your treatment:
- Remember that your whooping cough can transmit to others! Therefore prevent the transmission as well! Use a mask if you need to interact with your family members or other people. Wash your hands more often, and don’t forget to cover your cough!
- You can consider a warm bath or shower to help ease breathing & clear your lungs. Your doctor may also recommend vaporizing your room.
- Choose frequent small meals instead of large ones! Eating in smaller portions may help reduce the chance of vomiting after coughing.
- Avoid any factors that can trigger you to cough or sneeze, such as by keeping clean the air in your room.
- Keep hydrated by drinking adequate water /day! You can also choose soups or juice to keep you hydrated. If you have a child with this disease, some symptoms of dehydration in children may include infrequent urination, when they are crying they don’t have tears, and dry lips.
- Don’t forget to get adequate rest!
- And follow completely all instructions from your doctor!
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
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