An Old Disease That’s On the Rise

Bordatella Pertussis is a bacterial disease also known as “Whooping Cough.” In previous generations it was typically acquired in childhood after which the patient rarely experienced a severe infection as an adult. In more recent times the DTaP vaccine has reduced the incidence of childhood Pertussis but conferred shorter periods of immunity, perhaps as low as four to twelve years. Possibly as a result of this change the number of cases of Pertussis has been on the rise.

Symptom

The major symptom of Pertussis is a choking cough (called a “paroxysm”) that may strike you only a few times per day, but can be extremely vicious. During this attack you may find it difficult to swallow or breathe. A thick mucous will attempt to pass up your throat out of your windpipe and may cause your larynx to snap shut (known as a “laryngospasm”) severely limiting your air intake. This results in a gasping or “whooping” sound that doctors call “stridor.” Each time it happens you feel that you might choke to death.

Additional symptoms of Pertussis include a mild feeling of sore throat or fever during the initial incubation period, and a thick but clear mucous that may come up during the coughing spasms.

Who Gets It

This is no longer an exclusively childhood disease. Due to vaccinations, many people will NOT get Pertussis as children, but may get it later in life when the vaccine has worn off. On the other hand, plenty of children get it despite being vaccinated.

Developing countries. And people in your hometown.

Pertussis is a worldwide plague with something like 16 million people being struck each year, and nearly two hundred thousand children dying of it. However, it can also strike you right here in the USA. Doctors may tell you they’ve never seen a case in twenty years, but that just means they haven’t diagnosed one. According to the New York Times, cases are increasing in the United State, with almost 50,000 sickened in 2012. And one expert estimates the actual rate is ten times what is reported.

How Does It Attack You?

Pertussis is a bacteria of the genus Bordatella that produces several toxins which attack your body in different ways. In response your body produces a thick mucous which clogs the airway. The violent cough may be how the body unclogs the airway although the precise cause of the cough is not known.

When it strikes

The cough can strike at any time of day or night. The first time it hit me I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was choking to death. But it can also strike in the middle of the day, or at any other time. I would typically feel something start to tickle the back of my throat, as if the mucous were starting to come up the windpipe, and soon after the coughing would begin. The only constant seemed to be long intermissions for hours or even a day without any serious cough at all.