WHOOPING COUGH

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 Case scenario:

                        We present a case of an 11-year-old male patient-oriented to our unit with anorexia, weight loss, and persistent cough with nocturnal paroxysms for 4 weeks. He also reported occasional wheezing and chest tightness. He denied fever, chills, myalgia, sore throat, or rhinorrhea. The patient presented to his primary care physician 1 week prior with the same complaint and was treated with amoxicillin and ebastine. Facing the persistence of the complaints he was oriented to our unit in order to exclude tuberculosis. Further study confirmed Bordetella pertussis infection and he started clarithromycin (15 mg/kg/day for 14 days). The patient's symptoms resolved after two weeks. Two of the patient's family members have developed symptoms of Bordetella pertussis infection and were treated after a convenient study.

Introduction:

                      Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.

Epidemiology:

                              The rate of cough illnesses (pertussis) caused by B pertussis infection in adolescents and adults is between 370 and 1500 per 100,000 population. These data suggest that there are between approximately 800,000 and 3.3 million cases per year in the United States. 

Symptoms:

  1. Paroxysms of many, rapid coughs followed by a high-pitched "whoop" sound. 
  2. Vomiting and throwing before or after the fits.
  3. Exhaustion after coughing fits.   

Complications: 

  1. Pneumonia
  2. Hypoxic encephalopathy
  3. Otitis media
  4. Tuberculosis activation  
  5. Epistaxis, hemoptysis
  6. Hernia
  7. Seizures

Transmission:

                      Pertussis is a very contagious disease only found in humans. Pertussis spreads from person to person. People with pertussis usually spread the disease to another person by coughing or sneezing or when spending a lot of time near one another where you share breathing space.

Diagnosis:

  1. Nose and throat samples

Treatment:

                  Since whooping cough is a bacterial infection, antibiotics are the primary course of treatment.

Prevention:

  1. Vaccines  

References:

  1. The Cases scenario was taken from NCBI and the authors are Natália Melo, Ana Catarina Dias, Lara Isidoro, and Raquel Duarte and the URL is https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2644295/
  2. The introduction was taken from WHO and the URL is http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/pertussis/introduction.html#:~:text=Pertussis%2C%20also%20known%20as%20whooping,with%20persistent%20cough%20and%20whooping.
  3. The Epidemiology was taken from NCBI and the author is James D Cherry the URL is https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15867059/#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20cough%20illnesses,year%20in%20the%20United%20States.
  4. The symptoms and transmission and prevention were taken from CDC
  5. The complications were taken from Medscape and the URL is https://www.medscape.com/answers/967268-63371/what-are-the-complications-of-pertussis-whooping-cough
  6. The Diagnois and treatment were taken from healthline and the URL is https://www.healthline.com/health/pertussis#diagnosis-and-treatment      


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