I was a grown up victim of whooping cough or what we used to call whooping cough. I had a cough for three months, mostly at night. Suffering from bronchitis, I have relapsed bronchial infections. However, I could be wrong. At this point there is nothing to tell. The virus stays active for the rest of my life and, if I’m actually infected, the test might come back negative. If you think you have a cough or cold, there are a few clues to look for.
1) Dry Cough. Cough from a dry cough with little sputum. Most bronchial and pulmonary infections result in a productive cough. Most people complain of suffering from a dry cough.
2) Unique Cough. The cough of someone suffering from whooping cough is different from other diseases. The patient is prone to cough that sometimes lasts only 30 to 60 seconds. The name whooping cough is derived from the sound when a person catches their breath after a long coughing fit. But not everyone has a distinct sound at the end of the attack.
3) Intermittent attacks. Those suffering from other lung diseases usually have a fairly strong cough. Patients suffering from pertussis find that they can go for a period without an attack. Something as simple as a smell or a breeze can trigger a coughing attack.
4) The length of the weakness. Usually bronchitis or pneumonia responds to steroids, cough suppressants and antibiotics. Three emergency trips and three doctor visits, along with countless medications made no difference to my symptoms. That’s why he insists on coughing. It usually runs its course. Some people recover in as little as a month, others take several months or longer to get well. In China the disease is often called 100 days because of the length of the cough.
5) After the initial few weeks, patients often report that, apart from an irritating cough, they feel well. If the disease were some other kind of infection, there is no doubt that the patients would report good health.
How do adults catch a whooping cough? There are several factors at play. Many children compare health as some parents choose to avoid childhood vaccines. On top of that, the doctors and scientists discovered that the vaccine we received so that the child would not live long was effective. Doctors suspect that after fifty years, the vaccine has lost all its protection. Some also encourage adults to receive the pertussis vaccine every 10 years.
The good news is, early detection of whooping cough requires an antibiotic that helps reduce the disease and reduce sytmpoms. Treatment, however, should begin within a few weeks of the first disease. Most patients who are finally diagnosed do not receive the cause of their illness until this time has passed. at that point the disease only runs through.
Only your doctor can determine if you have whooping cough or whooping cough. A simple nose swab does it if you have a chronic cough cough. If you are like me and have a cough and nothing works, suggest that you check with your doctor for this age old disease. A simple test will put your mind at ease, and your doctor can get to the bottom of what’s really causing your persistent cough. The sooner it is diagnosed, the sooner your life can return to normal.
Report:
- www.hopkinsmedicine.org/heic/
- www.cdc.gov/pertussis/fast-facts.html< /a>< /li>
- www.medicinenet.com/pertussis/article.htm< /li>
