health

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a potentially severe upper respiratory
infection characterized by spells of intense coughing that end in a
whooping sound when the person is finally able to catch their breath.
It can affect people in any age group, but is most common (and most serious)
in infants and young children. The organism that causes whooping
cough affects only humans; it is not spread by animals.
The early symptoms ofwhooping cough resemble those of the common
cold—runny nose, sneezing, general unwell feeling—and the disease is
often mistaken for an ordinary cold. After about a week of cold-like symptoms,
however, the patient develops episodes of severe coughing that can
bring up thick phlegm (mucus) from the throat. The coughing may be
intense and spasmotic enough to cause vomiting or cause the patient to
turn red or blue in the face. At the end of the coughing attack, the patient
may make a whooping or crowing sound as they gasp to take in their next
breath of air.