Is Whooping Cough Contagious

Whooping cough, or Pertussis, is a bacterial infection that causes severe and uncontrollable cough. Excess coughing is the most prominent symptom of whooping cough. This disease is mostly observed in children but, adults can also be affected by it. Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria known as Bortedella pertussis. Let us know more on whooping cough.

Symptoms of Whooping Cough
Symptoms of whooping cough are similar to that of common cold like runny nose and cough. But the most prominent symptom is the violent cough along with a peculiar sound like 'whoop' when the person breaths. After the initial days the mild cough turns into spells of coughing. Sometimes if the cough lasts longer, the child may even turn red or purple. It is also observed that the cough worsens at night. In babies, especially younger than 6 months of age, some serious symptoms like dehydration, pneumonia, brain damage, seizures are seen. Sometimes irregularities in breathing like slowed or stopped breathing are also observed.

Along with these symptoms other symptoms like loss of appetite, mild fever, sore throat, tiredness are also seen. There may even be times when the person is unable to breath properly. Sometimes, choking can also be experienced due to accumulation of mucus in throat and chest. The symptoms of whooping cough are milder in adults as compared to children. Read more on symptoms of whooping cough.

Is Whooping Cough Contagious?
If you wish to know how contagious is whooping cough, then the answer is definitely positive. It is overall contagious, i.e there are all chances of it spreading from one person to other. Whooping cough can spread through droplet, through saliva, through kissing and also from breastfeeding mother to her child. When an infected person sneezes or coughs, the bacteria are released in the air. If a healthy person inhales this air, he also gets infected with whooping cough. Therefore, it is observed that whooping cough is highly contagious.

Whooping cough, contagious period is not specific but the disease is contagious as long as the person shows symptoms. It is also said to be highly contagious during the first 2-3 weeks of experiencing symptoms. Whooping incubation period varies from person to person. It can be between 7 to 10 days or even between 4 to 21 days. Read more on facts about whooping cough.

Preventing Transmission of Whooping Cough
Minimizing the contact with the affected person is the only way to preventing whooping cough. If the child shows any symptom of whooping cough, parents should not allow him to mix with other children as whooping cough is highly contagious. Similarly in adults, when symptoms of cold are seen, they should stay away from young infants. Also, the other way around, children as well as adults must stay away from people who display symptoms like that of whooping cough.

Vaccination is the best prevention against whooping cough. Babies are first given whooping cough vaccine when they are two months of age. Vaccination is very important in order to protect babies against this disease. There are several immunization programs held for the prevention of whooping cough. Healthy lifestyle and hygiene also plays an important role in prevention of whooping cough.

Treatment of Whooping Cough
Whenever a child or an adult shows symptoms of whooping cough, he should be taken to the doctor for further diagnosis of the disease. The doctor will diagnose on the basis of the signs and symptoms displayed by the patient and also the history of the patient. Furthermore, a sample of mucus or saliva will be taken from the patient and sent for test in the laboratory. Sometimes blood tests are also undertaken for the diagnosis of whooping cough. If the tests are found positive, the doctor may prescribe some antibiotics for the patient.

Therefore we can conclude that the answer to your query, is whooping cough contagious is positive. The only thing one must remember is to follow precautionary measures to prevent the disease!