Pertussis, Aka Whooping Cough

I was so lucky to never have gone through this with either of my kids. My son did do pnuemonia rather well though. I just wanted to wish you and your daughter all the best. I will keep you both in my prayers.

My daughter has never had whooping cough, but here are a few things I found on-line. I hope they help.

Creating a quiet, calm, restful environment. Keeping stimulation to a minimum can help reduce the number of coughing spells.
Controlling possible triggers of a coughing episode, such as smoke, dust, sudden noises or lights, or changes in temperature.
Giving your child frequent, small sips of fluids and nutritious foods to provide needed energy that coughing depletes.
Using a cool-mist humidifier in your child's room. But watch closely to see its effect; sometimes humidity makes coughing spells worse, in which case it should be avoided. Dry, hot, or polluted air may make coughing spells worse.
Frequent hand-washing is important to help prevent the spread of infection. Keep children away from people who have a severe cough, especially if it is possibly related to whooping cough.

Good Luck!

My son has had pertussis twice: once when he was 13 months old, and once when he was 25 months old. When he was 25 months old, it shortly followed pneumonia.

My son has always had respiratory problems. He gets Croup every January, despite my best efforts to keep him healthy. I finally stopped letting him go to his Dad's house, as this is when he would get sick all the time. I don't smoke, so I know it wasn't due to that.

As far as what you can do, it's mostly a waiting game. Cool liquids helped my son, I mostly gave water as I'm not a huge fan of juice at such a young age.

What I do for bouts with Croup is steam up the bathroom with the water as hot as it will go (no need to bathe her, just let her sit in the steamy room like a sauna) then I'd take him to my room and sit next to an open window. The steam followed by cool air really helps open up the airways the doctors said.

If things aren't improving in two days, call the doctor again, but until then, lots of love and cuddles. She's going to be feeling all out of sorts and her normal routine may not please her anymore. My son (Mr. Independent) wanted constant attention, and I was glad for the extra cuddle time. Sometimes I think he was comforting me more than I was comforting him. :)

my niece have this 13 yrs ago, she was still to little a have the shot. They said once she had it she would not get it again. The drs @ children hospital has a hard time dx'ing it correctly. Do they not put kids in the hospital anymore for that????? I would not worry too much as long as your dr is alware of what is going on.

Hi R.-

Whatever you do, don't worry. My 15 year old sone and my 17 month old son just went through a bout with pertussis. i too was pretty scared, but soon realized that it sounds scarier than it is. Because we have a vaccination for it, I think we associate it with a terrible disease like polio. It's not fun to go through and it is something to be aware of and to do your best to monitor it and make your child comfortable.

What helped in our case was to use a vaporizer to keep moisture in the air. Also with our little one we put a sturdy pillow under the sheet in his crib so that he was elevated when he was sleeping and had an easier time breathing. Cough medicine can help a bit at night, but it doesn't really cure anything.

Be patient. My sons just stopped coughing in September. They were diagnosed in July. It gets better over time and my older son said it doesn't hurt or cause a lot of discomfort, it's just very "annoying". One benefit, it's supposed to be like chicken pox and once you get it you're not supposed to get it again.

How are people getting it if they were vaccinated? Evidently the current vaccine was found to wear off somewhere around the ages of 10-16 years old. My older son was exposed by one of his friends. They are in the exact age range. My younger son was exposed to his brother's pertusis right before he received the 3rd dose of the shot, so he was not completely immune yet. They are now including the pertusis in with tetanus so that they can re-vaccinate people and hopefully get a handle on it.

Finally, the biggest thing to worry about is pneumonia. Make sure she has lots of fluids and don't hesitate to bring her in to the doctor if you feel her breathing is labored or you hear a "rattle" when she's breathing. We brought our 17 month old in 3 times just to be sure. He was fine each time...

I hope this helps...good luck!

was your daughter vaccinated?

I'm just curious on whether she was vaccinated against it or not? I'm just wondering because I have a 5 month old and needed to know if there was any concerns about getting it if you've been vaccinated.

I don't know if you feel comfortable performing this act...but light percussion on the back will help loosen the secretions in the lungs allowing your child to cough them up more effectively. You just cup your hands slightly and with some force but not an out right hit, pound on the upper to mid back region alternating hands...fairly rapidly. If it becomes uncomfortable for the child then just lighten up a bit of the force. You will make a sound like a horse galloping. If that makes any sense :) It is difficult to explain this method without demonstrating it. I hope I helped!