Whopping Cough Science Paper

Mark Howey
11/15/15        

                                                    Whopping Cough

        This paper will discuss pertussis, which is better known by its common name, whooping cough (Brown, 2015).  Once considered a disease suffered only by children, it is now known that the disease can infect anyone, including young children who have completed the full course of recommended vaccinations, to teens and even to adults who have an affected immunity system (Brown, 2015).  An affected immunity system is suffered by people with cancer, asthma, lung problems, HIV/AIDS, or have had an organ transplant (Clinic, 2014).

        To make this paper easier to read and understand, the following words need to be defined:  resurgence - an increase or revival after a period of little activity or occurrence (Clinic, 2014), endemic - regularly found among particular people or in a certain area (Whooping cough, 2014), mutate - change or cause to change in nature (Whooping cough, 2014).  The following definitions are words used to describe the three (3) stages of the disease:  catarrhal - inflammation of a mucous membrane especially in the human nose and air passages, paroxysmal - sudden recurrence or intensification of symptoms, and convalescent - recovery after an illness (Whooping cough, 2014).

        Records show that pertussis was first recognized in the Middle Ages, however, the information is limited.  At that point in time, pertussis was referred to as "the kinks" although it is unknown why.  It was in Paris, France in 1576 that the first pertussis epidemic occurred, but it took until 1906 for scientists to isolate the causal bacteria (Whooping cough, 2014).

        By the 1970's countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan had the pertussis disease relatively controlled, leading Sweden to discontinue required vaccinations in 1979.  Today, Sweden experiences persistent epidemic outbreaks but will not reintroduce required vaccinations (Whooping cough, 2014).

        Worldwide, today, it is estimated that there are sixteen million people infected resulting in roughly sixty-one thousand deaths annually.  Of this number, ninety-five percent (95%) of the fatalities occur in infants in developing countries (Clinic, 2014).

        The following statistics are for the United States only.  In 1934 there were two hundred sixty thousand (260,000) cases of pertussis reported to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  This number dropped to one thousand (1,000) cases in 1976.  By 2012, there were only twenty (20) people who died from pertussis with the majority of deaths occurring in infants under the age of three (3) months (Clinic, 2014).  For reasons still unknown, the United States experienced a resurgence of the disease in 2013. That year, twenty eight thousand six hundred thirty nine (28, 639) cases were reported to the CDC, who suspects that number should be higher but was not due to underreporting and misdiagnosis (Clinic, 2014).  In California in 2014, there were ten thousand eight hundred thirty one (10,831) cases of whooping cough reported.  Of those cases, one third (1/3) were adolescents, one fifth (1/5) were adults and the rest were children under the age of six (6) (Clinic, 2014).  This resurgence most likely occurred because the bacteria mutated.

        What causes whooping cough?  Whooping cough is caused by the bacteria Bordet Ella pertussis (Clinic, 2014).  The bacteria is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes into the air and a nearby person inhales the bacteria that is living in the spray (Brown, 2015). The bacteria then gets into the lungs where it sticks to the lung's lining.  It proceeds to produce pertussis toxin which paralyzes the cilia of the lungs making it extremely difficult to clear the lungs by coughing (Clinic, 2014).  The bacteria also infects the pharynx (throat) causing irritation and producing more coughing (Cherry, 2014).

        The disease goes through the same three (3) stages after one becomes infected.  Stage one (1), or the catarrhal stage, begins when a person breathes in the bacteria. After seven (7) to ten (10) days, signs begin to appear.  It is during this stage that a misdiagnosis often occurs as the symptoms mirror those of a common cold - runny nose, nasal congestion, red, watery eyes, fever and cough.  After one and a half (1 1/2) to two (2) weeks the disease moves into Stage two (2), or the paroxysmal stage.  Symptoms during this stage include: the accumulation of thick mucus inside airways and uncontrollable coughing spells that last from fifteen (15) seconds to one (1) minute.  These coughing spells may lead to vomiting, red/blue face, extreme fatigue and a high-pitched "whoop" sound when breathing.  It is during this stage that hospitalization is required or death occurs.  Stage three (3), or the convalescent stage, occurs after the disease has run its course.  The disease remains highly contagious throughout all three (3) stages (Cherry, 2014), therefore, precautions must be taken throughout the full course of the disease.

        Vaccinations of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT), a three (3) in one (1) shot, at the recommended intervals is the most effective way to avoid contacting whooping cough.  Infants should get their first shot at two (2) months with booster shot at four (4) months, six (6) months, fifteen (15) months and between the ages of four (4) and six (6).  The CDC recommends another booster shot at around age eleven (11) (Brown, 2015).  The CDC also recommends that pregnant women get a DPT booster between weeks twenty-seven (27) and thirty-six (36) of their pregnancy.  The vaccine will pass from the mother to the baby and will protect the baby from birth until two (2) months of age when they will get their first vaccination (Brown, 2015). This shot has a ninety percent (90%) efficacy rate (Clinic, 2014) for the baby.  Provided that the immunization schedule is followed, the efficacy rate ranges between eighty (80) and ninety percent (90%) for those immunized (Clinic, 2014).