Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

Definition
Pertussis (Whooping Cough) is an acute disease of the respiratory tract. Found in children younger than 5 years, especially in children age 2-3 years.

Cause
Pertussis is caused by gram-negative Bordetella Pertussis.

Clinical Overview
These symptoms occur 1-2 weeks after contact with the infected person and preceded by an incubation period of 7-14 days. Typically, the disease lasts for 6 weeks or more. That is why the disease is called cough hundred days.
On his way, pertussis includes several stages, namely:

• Kataralis which marked the onset of a mild cough, especially at night, accompanied by mild fever and runny nose. This stage lasts 1-2 weeks. In the catarrhal stage indistinguishable from that caused by a viral respiratory infection
• Second is the spasmodic stage lasts 2-4 weeks. Symptoms, cough more often, people with sweat, and blood vessels in the face of wide-neck. Long coughing attack usually ends with a distinctive high-pitched sound (whooping caugh) and accompanied by vomiting. Subconjunctival frequent bleeding and / or epistaxis. Nails and lips become blue because the blood of patients a lack of oxygen. Beyond the attacks, the patient looked healthy.
• In the next stage, namely convalescence, going for two weeks. Symptoms, cough subsided and the patient gradually began to increase appetite.

Diagnosis

• Increased serum IgA specific Bordatella pertussis
• Detected Bordatella pertussis from nasopharyngeal specimens
• Nasopharyngeal swab culture was found Bordatella pertussis

Management

• Pertussis treatment aimed at infecting with appropriate antibiotics, such as erythromycin 30-50 mg / kg 4 times daily.
• Codeine for cough may be given 0.5 mg / year / time.
• Pertussis can be prevented by immunization of DPT (Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus). This immunization is given three times in a row in infants aged three, four, five months.

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