Health
Whooping Cough Ask the Expert: Dr. Linda Yolles
By
Feb 4, 2009, 21:57

Whooping Cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease that can be prevented.

Toronto-based family physician Dr. Linda Yolles answers new parents' questions about the health of their young children.
Q: I'm a new mother and I have heard about the health risks of whooping cough in young infants. Recently a nurse mentioned that since my child is under six months old, he hasn't yet received the complete set of whooping cough vaccinations and isn't fully protected. How can I protect my 3-month-old from contracting whooping cough?

A: Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease which can have very serious, and even life-threatening complications in infants. Since your little one has not received the complete set of doses of the pertussis vaccine, he could be susceptible to contracting it.

Until he is fully immunized, the best way to protect your baby is by making sure the people around him are vaccinated. Close contacts, and especially parents account for up to approximately 80 per cent of whooping cough transmission to infants. Parents alone account for 55 per cent of pertussis transmissions to infants. And because many adults do not display the characteristic "whoop" sound, they may not even realize they have the disease.

Symptoms of whooping cough in infants

Pertussis can have life-threatening health effects in infants, so keeping your young child protected is very important. Symptoms in infants include vomiting, dehydration, breathing problems, choking spells, weight loss and convulsions. One in 400 infants that develop pertussis will end up with brain damage, and one in 100 will die.

How to ensure your infant is protected

The best way to protect your little one is to make sure that you, as well as any other close contacts, like grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even daycare workers are immunized. This "cocoon strategy" means he will have less exposure to the disease, and will therefore be less likely to contract it. Ask your doctor about Adacel, a booster vaccine for adults, which protects against pertussis, as well as tetanus and diphtheria. You can receive Adacel even if you are breastfeeding, so the sooner you can protect yourself, the better.

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