Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a potentially fatally respiratory infection that's caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The infection results in severe coughing spells that end in a whooping sound. Your baby may have difficulty breathing during coughing spells and turn a red or purple color. Always consult with your baby's pediatrician if your baby is ill.
Infant Whooping Cough Treatment
Step 1
Make an appointment with your baby's pediatrician if cold-like symptoms are present with or without a cough. The initial symptoms of whooping cough are mild and may appear as a minor illness, but by the time your baby makes a whooping sound after coughing spells, the illness is severe and potentially life-threatening for infants.
Step 2
Treat infants within six weeks of the cough onset. Give antibiotics exactly as prescribed by your baby's pediatrician. If whooping cough is suspected, doctors should immediately give azithromycin to young infants. Older babies can be given azithromycin, erythromycin or clarithromycin. The treatment typically last for two weeks.
Step 3
Admit infants younger than 6 months to the pediatric intensive care unit of your local hospital. Your baby will be monitored for dehydration, breathing difficulties, heart failure and other serious complications that can accompany whooping cough.
Step 4
Treat people in close contact with your baby within three weeks. If someone has not been vaccinated against whooping cough, the individual has an 80 percent chance of catching the illness.
Step 5
Keep your home free of airborne irritants, such as cigarette smoke, cooking smoke and potent chemicals. Allow your baby to rest with a cool-mist vaporizer in his bedroom to loosen respiratory secretions and reduce inflammation of the lungs and airways.
Tips and Warnings
- If your baby or another member of your household has whooping cough, keep others away from the sick person's bedroom and thoroughly disinfect your house. Disinfect frequently touched items, such as telephones, doorknobs and TV remotes. Follow directions on disinfectant bottles. Most cleaners require contact time of 30 seconds or more before the object will be disinfected. Whooping cough is highly preventable by vaccinating your children. The vaccination is part of the DTaP vaccination, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Your baby will receive five doses before his sixth birthday and then a booster shot between the ages of 11 and 18.
- Whooping cough left untreated is severe for infants and potentially fatal. Always seek diagnosis and treatment if your baby has been around someone with whooping cough or has mild cold-like symptoms. Erythromycin may cause infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis if given to young infants. This condition causes severe vomiting. Late diagnosis and treatment of whooping cough does not alter the course of the illness.
Things You'll Need
- Pediatrician
- Antibiotics
- Cool-mist vaporizer
- Disinfectant
