What whooping cough is and how it spreads
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an acute bacterial infection of the airways caused by Bordetella pertussis. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The risk of passing it on is highest in the first weeks, when the cough does not yet look typical. Adults with mild symptoms can be contagious too, which is why babies are often infected by older family members.
Infants under one year suffer most. Teenagers and adults get it as well: protection from vaccination and from the illness itself fades over time, so reinfection is possible.
Whooping cough symptoms
The illness moves through stages:
- Catarrhal stage (1 to 2 weeks). It looks like a common cold: runny nose, sneezing, a mild cough, and little or no fever.
- Paroxysmal stage (several weeks). The cough comes in fits: a run of rapid coughs followed by a gasping breath with a high-pitched "whoop." A fit can end in vomiting, and the face may turn red or blue. Between fits a person can feel almost normal.
- Recovery stage (weeks, sometimes months). The fits fade, but the cough can return with any new cold.
Young infants often have no whoop. Instead they may stop breathing for a moment (apnea), turn blue or struggle to feed. In teenagers and adults, whooping cough often looks like a dry cough that drags on for more than two weeks, without fever.
Why whooping cough is dangerous
For healthy older children and adults the illness is usually miserable but not life-threatening. Serious outcomes are more common in babies, especially under 6 months:
- pauses in breathing and low oxygen;
- pneumonia;
- seizures and, rarely, brain injury;
- hospital stays, sometimes intensive care.
In adults a long cough disrupts sleep and can cause vomiting, weight loss, and occasionally rib injury or urine leakage.
Diagnosis and treatment
A doctor suspects whooping cough from the cough pattern and an examination. A nose and throat swab tested by PCR or culture confirms it, and sometimes a blood test is used. Treatment is with antibiotics. They work best when started in the first two weeks and reduce contagiousness. Later in the illness antibiotics do little for the cough, but may still be given so the person does not infect others. Infants and children with severe illness need hospital care. A doctor chooses the drug and plan, and ordinary cough syrups do little for pertussis. People who live with a patient, especially if there is a baby at home, may be offered preventive treatment.
Whooping cough vaccine in Georgia
Vaccination is the main protection. In Georgia's national preventive vaccination calendar (Minister's Order No. 01-60/n, current version of July 13, 2023), the pertussis component is part of:
- the six-in-one (hexavalent) vaccine at 2, 3 and 4 months, three doses at least 4 weeks apart;
- the DTaP/P booster (diphtheria, acellular pertussis, tetanus, polio) at 18 months and 5 years.
Acellular vaccines cause fewer reactions than the older whole-cell type. One detail matters: the Td vaccine given at 14 years and every 10 years afterward does not protect against pertussis. For teenagers and adults, clinics offer vaccines that include a pertussis component, such as Adacel and Boostrix. Whether you need such a dose, for example before a baby is born in your family, is a question for your doctor. Many countries recommend pertussis vaccination in pregnancy to protect the newborn. Georgia's national calendar does not include it, so discuss it with your obstetrician. For children under 18, calendar vaccines are free under the state program. Vaccination prices at clinics in Georgia are shown further down this page.
If a child missed doses, the series is usually continued rather than restarted, and a pediatrician can plan it. Relatives who will care for a newborn should check their own status too. The same combined vaccines also protect against diphtheria, so one visit often covers both.
When to see a doctor urgently
- an infant under one year with a cough, a red or blue face, pauses in breathing or trouble feeding;
- coughing fits ending in vomiting or a high-pitched gasp;
- a cough lasting more than two weeks, especially after contact with someone who has whooping cough;
- drowsiness, seizures or labored breathing after coughing.
If a child stops breathing or turns blue, call an ambulance at 112.
