health

Definition . Description . Demographics . Causes and Symptoms . Diagnosis . Treatment . Prognosis . P...

Whooping cough is a highly contagious and potentially fatal bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a potentially severe upper respiratory infection characterized by spells of intense coughing that end in a ...

At one time whooping cough was a leading cause of death in infants and toddlers, causing 3,000 to 5,000 deaths in the United States every ye...

Whooping cough is caused by a bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis, an organism that appears to live only in humans. The organism is spre...

In most cases the doctor will make the diagnosis on the basis of the patient’s physical symptoms, a history of exposure to others with whoop...

Treatment of whooping cough depends partly on the patient’s age and partly on the severity of the disease. Infants younger than six months o...

Older children, adolescents, and adults usually recover from whooping cough in five to six weeks without any lasting effects. Infants who ha...

The best protection against whooping cough is immunization. Since the 1940s, the vaccine that protects against pertussis has been combined w...

Whooping cough is likely to be a major public health problem even in developed countries for the foreseeable future because of some people’s...