The Whooping cough It is a very contagious disease that is produced by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis, usually found in the nose, mouth and throat. It affects both children and adults although its greater severity is reflected in children. The contagion is done by air when sneezing or coughing, once the child has been exposed to the disease, after spending a week he begins to have a cough, fever, sneezing and abundant nasal secretions resembling a common cold.
Cough attacks are growing and cause shortness of breath in the child, infants under one year of age are especially sensitive to this disease and hospitalization is often necessary.
It is a serious disease, in fact it can cause severe pneumonia, seizures and even brain damage. Every year around 60 million cases of this disease and about 350,000 deaths occur in the world, so that we have a little respect for the disease. It is usually the developing countries that suffer the most, in Spain thanks to vaccines their indices have been reduced significantly, up to 90%, reaching only about 3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year.
Nor should we pay much attention to this last figure, since there are many difficulties to diagnose it given its resemblance to the common cold. The pertussis vaccine cannot be lacking in the baby, it is important as a prevention system and necessary to safeguard the child's health.
Remember that if you have any doubt, it is best to go to the pediatrician, he will find out if it is a simple cold or a pertussis infection.
