Pertussis
hidePertussis, also known as the whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It derived its name from the "whoop" sound made from the inspiration of air after a cough. A similar, milder disease is caused by B. parapertussis. Although many medical sources describe the whoop as "high-pitched", this is generally the case with infected babies and children only, not adults.
Despite generally high coverage with the DTP and DTaP vaccines, pertussis is one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable deaths world-wide. Ninety percent of all cases occur in the Third World. Canada is the only rich, industrial nation in which pertussis is still commonplace, though Australia saw a large increase in cases during a 2008/09 outbreak.
For more information about Pertussis, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with whooping cough
The Medical Minute: A true or false quiz on vaccines
Aug 06, 2009 |
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True or false?
Lessons from the vaccine-autism wars
May 27, 2009 |
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Researchers long ago rejected the theory that vaccines cause autism, yet many parents don't believe them. Can scientists bridge the gap between evidence and doubt?
Refusing immunizations puts children at increased risk of pertussis infection
May 26, 2009 |
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Children of parents who refuse vaccines are 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute ...
Giving babies Tylenol may blunt vaccines' effects
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Giving babies Tylenol to prevent fever when they get childhood vaccinations may backfire and make the shots a little less effective, surprising new research suggests.
Parents of internationally adopted children advised to verify children's immunization levels
May 05, 2009 |
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A study by the division of global child health at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine cautions adoptive parents not to rely solely on vaccination records when gauging their internationally adopted children's ...
Parents of new babies should be considered for a whooping cough booster, say experts
Nov 28, 2008 |
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A booster vaccination for parents of new babies and other household members may be the most effective way of preventing the fatal form of whooping cough in young infants, say a group of paediatric intensive care doctors on ...
Whooping cough immunity lasts longer than previously thought
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Immunity to whooping cough lasts at least 30 years on average, much longer than previously thought, according to a new study by researchers based at the University of Michigan and the University of New Mexico. Details are ...
