Posts Tagged whooping cough
Cover your cough
Watch the people on the street – watch them, and see how many cover their mouth when they cough. The simple act of putting your hand, tissue or a cloth over your mouth when coughing can help prevent the spread of certain diseases.
Examples:
Whooping Cough
The Flu
Tuberculosis
During an evacuation, and large groups of people are living in a shelter, communicable diseases can spread quickly. It is important that every person do their part to ensure the health and safety of those around them. One person that is staying in a shelter, and has Tuberculosis, has the potential of infecting dozens and maybe even hundreds of other people. After the shelter is closed and those people return home, they also bring their new infection with them, thus helping to spread the disease.
Pertussis whooping cough
Before we begin, The author of this article (Kevin) is NOT a medical professional. This article should NOT be considered as medical advice, because its not. If you want more information about Pertussis, please visit a medical professional or contact your local health department.
Pertussis (also known as the whooping cough) is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The term “whooping cough” comes from the sound that the person makes when they are coughing.
Transmission is through breathing in infected cough droplets. Incubation period is around 2 days. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, and runny nose.
In areas where the population has received the DTaP vaccine, rates of infection are around 1 in 100,000.
The coughing spells may be so bad that babies can not to eat, drink, or breathe. At night the cough is often worse and cough medicines usually do not help.
The person may appear to be well betwwwn coughing spells. Some babies may only have apnea (failure to breathe) and can die from this.
Pertussis can be treated with modern antibiotics. However, patients with severe cases may have to be hospitalized.
Sources:
Texas Department of State Health Services
Wikipedia