Ds has wooping cough!!

amother

Fri, Feb 03 2012, 12:27 am

Oh my! I need all the advice and help I can get. My 4 year old ds had a cold and a cough, but the cough just didn't go away. He was acting fine, but was just coughing. At first I thought it was a cold cough but it was lasting too long so I took him to the doctor. She calmly said he has wooping cough and gave me antibiotics ( he also had strep so the medicine should take care of both) I'm under the impression that it's scary and really contagious, but she wasn't concerned at all! She said I could still send him to school because he's feeling fine! Tonight he was just coughing and I heard the wooping sound, it was so so scary. I read on line that it could last for weeks, does that mean I shouldn't send him to school until he stops coughing? What are other signs to watch for? The dr made it sound that once his done his medicine everything is back to normal, but I'm reading it's not so simple. I'm so so nervous. She said that I shouldn't worry about my other kids because they would of chas v'shaolom have caught it by now. I'm also starting to feel very guilty. I didn't know he had it, I sent him to school, let's say there are kids that dont get shots go there? What if a baby was around him? I really hope he didn't give it to anyone! Please if anyone has any info on it please let me know! I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!

eshes chayil

Fri, Feb 03 2012, 3:10 am

please calm down Smile

There had been a case of whooping cough in my son's preschool, and there was a big to-do about it, all the parents had to take their kids to get tested, the preschool was almost shut down, etc.
Allow me to share some of the information I've gleaned after running from doctor to doctor, speaking to many mothers, and doing some research on the topic.
- whooping caugh vaccines are not 100% effective. About half the people I know who got whooping caugh had been up to date on their vaccines. So please don't feel guilty about it.
- whooping cough is contagious only during the first two weeks, when it still seems like a regular cough. after that its not catchy anymore, so your child can go to preschool.
- whooping cough CAN NOT be cured by antibiotics. I was told this by at least 3 doctors. yes, doctors who believe in, and practice conventional medicine.
- whooping cough itself is not dangerous to an otherwise healthy child. On the contrary, it is said to strengthen the immunity of a child who has had it.
- Whooping cough CAN ch"v be dangerous IF complications arrise. Keep an eye on your child, and make sure there aren't any other symptoms
- whooping cough is otherwise known as "the six week illness". It does take a while for the coughing to go away completely, but like I've already said, after 2 weeks its not contagious anymore
-
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I profess to be one. I'm just sharing information I have gotten from various medical sources. Please use YOUR common sense and do what YOU feel is right for your child.

Have a Refua Shlema quickly! Smile

bradybunch

Fri, Feb 03 2012, 11:30 am

Was he actually tested for it, or she just diagnosed him based on his symptoms? There are a lot of other illnesses that can have similar symptoms in a well child (including something called parapertussis, which is very closely related but not as dangerous).

Similarly, was a strep swab positive?

Like everybody said above, if he has pertussis, he's not contagious anymore. He's just going to cough for a long time. At this point if he hasn't had any complications, he's very unlikely to. What you would want to watch out for is difficulty breathing.

And by vaccinating, you did everything you could to protect the people around you. Unfortunately, the level of public protection needed to provide good herd immunity for pertussis is very high, partly because it's very contagious and partly because the efficacy of the vaccine isn't as high as some of the others (in studies it was shown to be anywhere from 85-90% effective, I believe, whereas most vaccines are more like 95%).

middy

Fri, Feb 03 2012, 11:56 am

e_plus3 wrote:

I was going to say to get tested, then I figured at this point it doesn't matter much. Doctors are more likely to diagnose especially when there are epidemics, but statistics get skewed when patients aren't tested first and then we don't know how prevalent the disease really is. However, at this point, as far as her son is concerned, I don't think it matters much. He is already on antibiotics which will hopefully kill the strep, and other than watching for shortness of breath, there is no further treatment necessary. At this point they usually recommend boosters even for kids who had the disease, so it wouldn't affect that either.
Do you agree?

bradybunch

Fri, Feb 03 2012, 3:16 pm

middy wrote:

e_plus3 wrote:

At this point, actually, testing is inaccurate, so I agree there's no point in getting tested. That's why I was wondering. Usually that far into the illness the test is negative. I just find it unusual that a pediatrician would diagnose pertussis without a test. This is the same reason I asked about the strep, because strep is so over-diagnosed. I think it matters both for trying to get a better count of actual pertussis cases, and for the people he may have been exposed to while contagious.