Home :: Whooping Cough

Whooping Cough -Adult And Child Whooping Cough Symptom And Treatment

Whooping cough or Pertussis, as it is called in medical parlance, is a contagious disease. It is a very distressing condition which may cause serious trouble in the lungs. The disease appears to be endemic, with seasonal outbreaks, especially during the winter months. The incubation period is between one and two weeks after exposure.

Unlike some other diseases, a new born baby no immunity to whooping cough, and can get it any time after birth. It commonly affects infants during the first year of life, if they are not immunized. Many cases of whooping cough occur in children up to five years of age. In some cases, children up to 12 years may also be affected.

Symptoms of whooping cough - Information on whooping cough symptom.

The disease has a catrrhal and a spasmodic stage. For the first week the cough is like ordinary upper respiratory catarrh. At the end of the week, it becomes spasmodic and comes in bouts, initially more often during the night, but later during the day as well. The child goes on coughing. His face becomes red and suffused, the tongue protrudes and the eyes begin to water. At the end of the bout, the child takes a deep breath and there is a prolonged croaking sound which is called a whoop. This sound is produced by the air entering through a partially closed glottis. This gives the disease its name. The child brings out sticky secretion from his nose and mouth and very often vomits. At the end of the bout, the child lies back exhausted. Gradually, over the next or four weeks, the bouts of cough and their duration become less and disappear in about eight to 10 weeks from the beginning of the disease. In immunized children, the disease is mild and atypical.

Cause of whooping cough - Information on whooping cough cause.

Whooping cough is highly contagious, caused br rod shaped bacilli, Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertusis. The first one gives rise to more severe infections. It ia also associated with various adinoviruses, para influenza and respiratory viruses.It spreads rapidly from on child to another through droplets emitted by coughing. This is especially so during the early catarrhal stage, but once the typical spasmodic bout starts the infection becomes negligible.

The actual cause of the whooping cough, is however, is feeding the children with refined and dermineralised foods and the absence of sufficient quantity of fresh fruits and salad vegetables in their diet. This results in accumulation of excessive quantities of catarrh and mucus in the child's system. This is an attempt on the part of the nature to throw out this catarrh and mucus. The use of drugs to treat other diseases can also lead to whooping cough.

Whooping cough Treatment - Information on treatment of whooping cough.

Good nursing care is essential to the treatment of whooping cough. The child patient should be isolated from others and kept in a well ventilated room. He should wear loose clothes and must be given plenty of liquids in between the attacks of coughing. Orange juice will be especially beneficial. It can be given diluted with warm water on 50:50 basis. You should give warm water daily to the affective person during the whooping cough period.

Natural Home Remedy For Whooping cough Treatment.

The most effective of these remedies is the use of garlic. The syrup of garlic should be given in doses of five drops to a teaspoon two or three times a day for treating this condition. It should be given more often if the coughing spells are frequent and violent.

• Use of ginger is another effective homemade remedy for whooping cough treatment. A teaspoon of fresh ginger juice, mixed with a cup of fenugreek (methi) decoction and honey to taste, is an excellent diaphoretic. It acts as an expectorant in the whopping cough disease.
• A syrup prepared by mixing a teaspoon of fresh radish juice with an equal quantity of honey and a little rock salt, is beneficial in the treatment of this disease. It should be given thrice daily.
• Almond oil is also valuable in treating whooping cough. It should be given mixed with 10 drops each of fresh white onion juice, daily three for a fortnight.

Back to throat problems sections