LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Pertussis: Coughs
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Pertussis is a contagious bacterial infection of the respiratory tract that is spread in droplets through the air by coughing or sneezing. It usually begins with symptoms resembling those of a common cold, including sneezing, runny nose, low-grade fever and a mild cough. Within a couple of weeks, the cough becomes more severe and is characterized by episodes of numerous rapid coughs that may be followed by a high-pitched whooping sound or vomiting. A thick, clear mucous may be discharged. The cough is often worse at night, and cough medicines usually do not help alleviate it.
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Pertussis is an infection that causes severe coughing. It is ... called "whooping cough" because of the "whoop-like" sound that occurs when one breathes air into his or her lungs. Pertussis typically starts with a runny nose, mild fever, and a cough that gets worse with time and lasts for many weeks. Sometimes the cough is so bad that one can throw up. A person catches pertussis if they come in close contact with another person who has it. When a person who has pertussis sneezes or coughs, tiny droplets of bacteria (that one can’t see) go into the air. People who are nearby can inhale the pertussis bacteria, which can then cause whooping cough.
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Pertussis is highly contagious. The bacteria spread from person to person through tiny drops of fluid from an infected person's nose or mouth. These may become airborne when the person sneezes, coughs, or laughs. Other people then can become infected by inhaling the drops or getting the drops on their hands and then touching their mouths or noses. Infected people are most contagious during the earliest stages of the illness up to about 2 weeks after the cough begins. Antibiotics shorten the period of contagiousness to 5 days following the start of antibiotic treatment.
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Pertussis leaves its victims literally gasping for air. At first, this tricky pretender might seem like a basic cold—runny nose, fever, and cough. That’s Stage 1, when pertussis is just warming up. After a week or two, pertussis infection delivers its cruel surprises—thick, gluey mucus and extreme coughing spells. In these fits, people can literally cough so hard and long that they throw up or turn blue because they can’t breathe. Victims of pertussis make a gasping “whoop” sound when they suck in air after a coughing fit.
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Pertussis symptoms may be ameliorated when effective antimicrobial therapy is started during either the catarrhal stage or within 2 weeks of cough onset. However, once the paroxysmal stage has begun, antimicrobial therapy has little effect on the course of illness and is indicated primarily to limit the spread of the organism to others. Patients are no longer infectious after 5 days of therapy.
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Pertussis is spread when a person with pertussis coughs or sneezes pertussis germs into the air and someone else inhales the germs. People who are within three feet of someone with pertussis for at least 10 hours a week are at greater risk of getting pertussis.
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