Pertussis in children is considered a common disease and most often occurs with certain complications. If the child is not provided with medical assistance on time, then there can be a fatal outcome, which should never be allowed. There is a special vaccine that is administered to the child in the first months of his life, but it does not constitute the final guarantee that the baby will not become infected, but the doctors say that the disease will proceed in a milder form. Parents should know how pertussis is manifested in children in order to be able to help their child in time.
What is the causative agent of whooping cough?
Pertussis is a disease caused by bacteria; they are transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person through an airborne droplet. Bacteria, entering the human body, begin to multiply rapidly, while affecting the respiratory system and nervous system. It is impossible not to notice the disease, since the patient begins to have a paroxysmal cough, which is not easy to get rid of.
For the most part, small children are at risk, which is why newborns need to be vaccinated with DTP within three months after birth. Parents should be aware that vaccination can reduce the risk of disease by almost 80%. But this still does not guarantee that the child will not get sick at all, if it does not work out to avoid getting bacteria, then parents can expect their baby to suffer the disease in a milder form and without complications.
How can you get whooping cough?
It should be noted that most often you can get the disease under the age of seven years, while the smaller the child, the more chances of getting whooping cough. The incubation periods of pertussis in children can be different, basically they are no more than two weeks. It is accepted even after a significant improvement in the condition of an all-such child to isolate from communication with other children for at least a month, because whooping cough is considered a very contagious disease. The most favorable period for the development of the disease is considered autumn-winter. The fact is that under ultraviolet, pertussis bacteria can die quickly, so in the summer the number of cases decreases. It is worth considering that when pertussis is diagnosed in children, the incubation period may depend on many factors. There are several types of pertussis sticks:
- Aggressive sticks cause a severe course of the disease, complications are possible, most often this happens when parents ignore all the warnings of doctors and refuse to vaccinate their child for whatever reason.
- Moderate bacilli can cause a disease that will occur with certain difficulties, but this is possible when the child has a weakened immune system and other serious diseases.
- The mild form is considered the most common, it often occurs in already vaccinated children, but with a weakened immune system.
Naturally, the incubation period largely depends on the immunity of the child, age and his health.
How to recognize whooping cough in a child?
When a doctor diagnoses pertussis in children, the incubation period can last from six to twenty days. The main symptom of the disease in a child can be considered a strong spasmodic cough, which will be repeated over time. Many parents make a big mistake, taking whooping cough for a common cold, but this is no accident, because the first signs of the disease resemble acute respiratory infections. As a rule, in a child with pertussis, the following symptoms can be observed:
- The kid becomes weak, complains of a general malaise.
- Appetite decreases, the child may completely refuse food.
- Initially, a slight runny nose with a rare cough is observed.
- The temperature rises to 39 degrees.
Many parents immediately begin to treat a cold, but every day the symptoms will not only not disappear, on the contrary they will worsen. In just a few days of such treatment, the child’s cough will become stronger and will appear not only during the day, but also at night, preventing the baby from falling asleep. One such attack can last about five minutes, and twenty such attacks are recorded in a child per day. Each parent should know how pertussis manifests itself in children, the symptoms just a couple of days after the onset become pronounced and it is simply impossible to ignore them.
Stages of whooping cough
The disease can occur in three stages. If there are no complications, then full recovery occurs in eight weeks.
- The catarrhal stage is that the general condition of the child does not change significantly. Body temperature remains within normal limits, rarely when it rises to 37 degrees. In the evening and at night, parents can note that the baby has a dry cough, in the afternoon it is not so noticeable. Over time, adults may notice that the baby’s cough begins to intensify, becomes paroxysmal and causes vomiting. The duration of the incubation period with whooping cough in this case is only five days, older children can suffer from the disease for two weeks.
- The paroxysmal form is different in that it does not resemble a cold at all, the child has an obsessive cough that does not go away for a long time. It is possible to determine that a child has whooping cough even by the nature of the cough.
- The resolution period for pertussis can be about four weeks. At this time, the body begins to act and connect all its forces to fight the disease. The cough gradually begins to subside, seizures become rare.
It is advisable to begin treatment of whooping cough as soon as possible, otherwise complications may appear, hypoxia develops, and blood circulation of the brain and heart muscle is disturbed. Self-medication can lead to the development of pneumonia.
Periods of Pertussis Disease
It is important not only to know how pertussis is manifested in children, the symptoms of this disease can also be doubtful, and even an experienced doctor can not always make a correct diagnosis for them, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the main features of the disease. Doctors distinguish such periods of development of symptoms of pertussis in a child:
- The incubation period is characterized by the fact that there are no signs of the disease, they will begin to appear in a week from the very moment that the bacteria entered the body.
- The prodromal period is associated with the appearance of the first signs, such as coughing and fever. The child may not complain about anything, but in this state he will stay for about two weeks.
- The spasmodic period of the disease complicates the condition of the child with a convulsive cough, which for a long time cannot be stopped, it irritates the respiratory tract. Often, such attacks can result in vomiting and convulsions. The child’s eyes begin to redden, the reason is that blood vessels burst in the eyes. This period lasts about two weeks.
It is possible to trace all periods of the disease if pertussis is diagnosed in a child at 4 years old, because coughing fits do not last long in babies, but the danger is that after several coughing fits, the baby may stop breathing, which leads to oxygen starvation of the brain and nervous diseases system.
Incubation period and complications after whooping cough
Complications can occur if the disease is not treated at all or self-medicated. Children can develop inflammation of the respiratory system, bronchitis, pneumonia, inflammation of the larynx and trachea will begin to appear. As a result of the narrowing of the airway, a lethal outcome occurs. Parents should remember that in young children the disease can develop very quickly, so the first symptoms are a signal in order to seek the help of a highly qualified doctor. The consequences of pertussis in children are different, sometimes emphysema occurs, and sometimes it happens that a hernia appears or nosebleeds begin.
Given the fact that pertussis is an infectious disease, special attention should be paid to the incubation period. In children, this period can manifest itself and last differently. At the very least, doctors say that a child with pertussis is most infectious during the periods when bacteria enter the body and the next three days, when the first symptoms begin to appear, but the period can be extended, as sometimes the incubation period reaches two weeks. It should be noted that this period most often passes unnoticed both for the patient himself and for his environment, so everyone who is nearby can easily become infected. Additionally, there is such a thing as epidemiological danger, so the child is isolated from society for another month, because during this period there is also a chance of infection.
Diagnostics
Determining whooping cough, which proceeds in a mild form, is not always easy, often such a diagnosis is difficult. The doctor will be able to suspect the disease in a child only in such cases:
- The baby does not cough for a long time, it often happens that during treatment the symptom only intensifies, and later a runny nose and fever appear.
- Means for expectoration have the opposite effect, and the patient’s condition worsens after taking them.
- As soon as the cough stops, the baby seems healthy, but after a while the attacks come back again.
To determine the presence of the disease in the baby, a certain diagnosis of pertussis in children is carried out. First of all, a specialist can prescribe a bacteriological culture of a throat smear. Of course, this method can not always show the presence of bacteria, especially if the child brushed his teeth before the procedure. A general blood test is mandatory, a large number of white blood cells and lymphocytes will be contained in it. Can also be tested for the detection of antibodies ELISA, PCR, RA. If it is required to detect the disease as quickly as possible, an express control method is carried out.
At the first suspicion of whooping cough, doctors recommend isolating the child from society in order to prevent infection of other people. Even when the child is already recovering, his body will be weakened and the slightest viral disease will lead to a relapse.
Pertussis therapy
As a rule, whooping cough is treated at home, but there are some cases when the child must always be under the supervision of doctors, or if the child is not yet a year old. The fact is that in children who are not a year old, the disease can develop rapidly, if adults are slow, then the little man can not be saved. When a doctor makes a diagnosis of whooping cough, the incubation period in children is different, but in any case, if there are several babies in the family, it is most appropriate to isolate them from a sick child. It is advisable that the sick child be in a separate room where the air temperature is 16 degrees, in addition, do not force him to lie down during coughing attacks, it is best for the baby to sit or stand.
During the illness, children should walk and breathe fresh air, a walk may well be accompanied by various breathing exercises. The patient must not only create favorable conditions, but also not have to be nervous.
Most often, the disease is detected at a fairly late date, when an active pertussis reflex develops. Antibiotics for whooping cough in children in this case may be useless. When the disease is just beginning, then a little man is prescribed an antipyretic, but only if the temperature rises to high levels. Adults try to defeat the occurrence of dry cough with special expectorants, but experts say that this is undesirable, since the movement of sputum can increase irritation in the respiratory tract. Often, "Erythromycin" is prescribed as the main antibiotic for children, because it doesn’t have any harmful effects on the liver, kidneys and intestines. The drug is used at an early stage, when the cough has not yet manifested. Erythromycin is also suitable for prophylaxis, therefore, adults who care for the child can use it.
A prerequisite is the use of vitamin C, B, A. Under the supervision of doctors, some expectorant drugs, such as Ambroxol, Ambrobene, Lazolvan, Bromhexin, Eufillin, can be prescribed to the patient. If vomiting begins when a child coughs, then "Aminazine" is used, this drug reduces seizures and has an antiemetic effect. It is important to remember that with a diagnosis of pertussis in children, the incubation period not only varies by periods, but also proceeds differently, so for each child an individual course is selected for complete recovery, self-medication is extremely dangerous.
Traditional methods in the fight against whooping cough
Adults should clearly understand that treatment with alternative methods can not always give a positive result, and if it is also used without consulting a doctor, then in general you can aggravate the general condition of your child. The clinical picture of a disease such as whooping cough is very complex, and you won’t be able to get rid of it with simple warmings and infusions, so you will definitely have to take medications. But one cannot completely deny treatment with folk remedies in children. Whooping cough has characteristic symptoms that, after consulting a doctor, can be removed using special herbal teas. Treatment with folk remedies is not recommended for young children, but adolescents who are already thirteen years old are allowed to make compresses from camphor oil and vinegar. You can also make tea from chamomile, linden and St. John's wort, but only if the child is not allergic to these components. With the permission of the doctor, it is possible to carry out therapy not only with the help of medications, but treatment with folk remedies remains relevant. Pertussis in children develops very quickly, so it is important to give the little man timely help, and if the compresses ease the condition of the child and improve breathing, then they are even recommended to be used.
Disease prevention
The main way to protect your child from illness is vaccination. The fact is that parents should understand that the introduction of a vaccine for children is so far the main way to avoid the disease or to facilitate its course.
The main problem is that it is not always possible to recognize the disease in the early stages, therefore serious complications can occur. A disease is considered especially dangerous for infants when the body of a small man is most vulnerable. Given all the factors, such as the incubation period, infectiousness, pertussis in children can be safely attributed to the most common and dangerous disease, which can also be fatal.