Whooping Cough

Transmission: Whooping cough is transmitted via close personal contact, uncovered sneezes and coughing from infected people. Whooping cough is also transmitted through the droplets in the air and it can develop from the upper respiratory tract (including the nose, throat and windpipe) infections. Any individuals that are close to infected people may be exposed to

All too often we hear on the news of the devastating effects of a disease that could have been prevented by vaccines, but because of parents refusal to vaccinate their infants and children, public health professionals are now confronted with a health crisis. The importance of vaccinations is to provide children with added protection because of a young, developing immune system. Consequently, vaccines will help in boosting the immune system in recognizing and protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps, and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.1 For example, pertussis, a bacterial infection that is preventable by vaccines, has infected 16 million persons worldwide, and causes about 195,000 deaths

By using statistics and facts, “sad fact is that one in 200 babies who contract whooping cough will die from it.” Susie O’Brien underlines that more lives will be lost if people do not vaccinate immunise their children. This is portrayed in the article when O’Brien includes an expert opinion, “health authorities fear Australia is about to have another whooping cough epidemic, in large part due to such low vaccination rates.” This makes the reader feel troubled and concerned that there could be a disease outbreak in Australia and makes them want to do something about this. As a result, this presents that O’Brien believes that parents should be vaccinating their kids, or else it will turn into a national

Once vaccinated, the person is protected from whooping cough for roughly 10 years and needs to receive the Tdap booster vaccine again. (Tdap- Tetanus and Diphtheria). This is a negative aspect as one vaccination doesn't provide a lifelong solution to Pertussis.

Also, the analysis depicts the geographic distributions of pertussis mortality across the United States. During 2000-2010, 184 deaths were directly attributed to pertussis, which occurred only in California, Pennsylvania and Texas.2 California had the highest morality rate, at 35 deaths in the ten-year period.2 Notably, the White population of reported pertussis morality was at the highest at 160 of 184 deaths.2 Also, there has been an increase in reported cases in the United Sates, in 2000 there were 12 reported deaths and in 2010 there were 26 deaths.2 94 percent of the pertussis related mortality occurred in infants (less than 1 years old) who are not fully immunized.

I think that perhaps in third world countries it may be a ramped problem do to the fact that most people are not vaccinated against it. Even then, the only people who are usually affected by the disease are children under 2 years old. They are the main targets of this disease because they do not have adequate immune systems to fight of the bacteria. Now maybe back in the 1900's Whooping cough would have been an epidemic because of their very limited amount of technology and they would not have known how to treat the disease or how to contain it. Despite out new technology, get a grasp on Pertussis, it seems to spread even if a person has been vaccinated. Curious enough that the schools have started vaccinating for Pertussis and started giving out the shot like it was candy, not even worried about the effect that it would have on the population of school kids that have had the shot. Some case kids that have had “Whooping Cough” are being re-vaccinated and

“In 2011 alone, 1.5 million children died [worldwide] from diseases preventable by currently recommended vaccines” (“Immunization” 2). The magnitude of this tragedy is in part caused by the fact that some of those children simply weren’t reached by organizations like UNICEF, which aim to vaccinate children (“Immunization” 2). However, there are other reasons for the recent deaths and epidemics—such as the whooping cough epidemic of 2012, with 48,000 cases nationally in the United States—involving vaccine preventable diseases (McClay 1).

South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and its member hospitals are committed to expanding Pertussis vaccination coverage to minimize the loss of life and the spread of Pertussis. The following statement was approved by “DHEC and the SCHA Policy Council and Board, articulates this commitment by South Carolina hospitals to a comprehensive system for Pertussis prevention through vaccination.” (www.scdhec.gov)

In the past 20 years, vaccines that are distributed to infants and young children will prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths throughout their lifetime (Olson, Samantha). However, even with all of these amazing statistics, people still are not convinced that vaccinating their child is the right decision. The CDC recommends fourteen vaccines to infants, some of which are to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, the chicken pox, and whooping cough (Child VaxView). Diphtheria and tetanus are very uncommon, but pertussis is still a threat and has a 1% mortality rate in early infancy (Summary). Even though a 1% chance of a child catching a disease and dying from it sounds like a very slim chance and pretty good odds, there is always going to be that question of what if this child is going to be that one percent? This people would assume would lead the parents of a newborn to vaccinate their child, however, with all of the false information floating around, it can be difficult to determine what is best for the new child. Another vaccination recommended by the CDC was the rotavirus vaccine. Four out of five children in the United States will acquire the rotavirus by the age of five. Among these

In recent years, there has been a growing number of parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated. It appears this refusal to vaccinate stems from a fear over the safety of vaccines, and the effect that they will have on their child. This fear is perpetuated by opinion, false studies, and conspiracy, spread by bias media outlets as well as scientists who are incentivized to fabricate this misinformation. Unfortunately, this has led to pocketed outbreaks of diseases such as whooping cough and measles. These diseases were previously a thing of the past, that is, until recently. These outbreaks have led to the tragic, and untimely deaths of several children, and has put many other children at risk. Pediatrician, Matthew Daley, and epidemiologist,

A health-issue known to be documented in the pre-school setting is pertussis, or better known as whooping cough (Kid Source Online, n.d.). Whooping cough, as it’s name implies, is a very communicable, infectious disease of the respiratory tract, which causes the child to make a “whooping” sound when trying to draw breath after a prolonged cough spell (Kid Source Online, n.d.). Nonetheless, not all children are known to make this said “whooping” sound while having this disease; thus, one must be aware of the general symptoms indicating whooping cough, which include, however aren't limited to, a runny nose and an extreme cough, both which gradually seem to only get worse, and perhaps can even end with the child profusely vomiting (Kid Source Online, n.d.).

One of the chilling facts associated with Pertussis is that when it is in infancy,it is nearly identical to the common cold. Making it a living nightmare for the parents of young kids. This is because most parents cannot tell a cold and Whooping Cough apart. People who have recently become parents have a higher risk of their baby contracting the disease. Since kids make up a large part of the population, it is extremely important to be vaccinated. Getting a vaccine greatly reduces the chance of contracting the

Pertussis epidemics occur every three to four years (Australian Government 2017). In 2011, 38,732 notified cases were reported nationally with the highest rates of disease being in infants under 6 months of age and children 5–9 years of age (Pillsbury, Quinn & McIntyre 2014). Children aged under six months

Whooping cough is a highly infectious disease that is spread by coughing and sneezing. It’s caused by bacteria which damage the breathing tubes.This pathogen produces a toxins that disrupt the normal function of cilia in the lungs, resulting in a critical cough.Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria (pertussis) it is contagious respiratory tract infection.It can be serious for anyone, but life-threatening for newborns and infants.

Pertussis is a disease that can affect any age group of people, from older adults to infants and it also does not affect a particular gender. Even though pertussis is a respiratory disease and its germs can be spread through the air, however, there can be some lifestyle changes among those who are infected, to reduce or minimize the spread of the disease. For example, individuals infected can get plenty of rest by relaxing which will make them feel better; they can drink plenty of fluids to prevent them from becoming dehydrated; they can also avoid tobacco smoking areas which can trigger cough; and they can either wear masks or cover their mouths when coughing to prevent the spread of the germ. According to studies done on pertussis, it was “estimated that national incidence of diagnosed pertussis ranged from 2.1-4.6 cases per 100,000 people across the two age