Pertussis whooping cough causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology
Whooping cough: whooping cough also known as peruses is an extremely contagious disease caused byte bacterium mortadella peruses. "whooping cough" is also called the100-day scoff in some countries the condition gets its name from a distinctive hacking cough. which is followed by a high-pitched gasp for air that sounds like a wolf causes. whooping cough is caused by an infection of bacterium known as mortadella peruses the bacteria attached to the lining of the Airways in the upper respiratory system and release toxins.That leads to inflammation and swelling most people acquire the bacteria by breathing in the bacteria that are present in droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes signs and symptoms at first whooping cough has the same symptoms as the average cold mild coughing sneezing runny nose-low fever as in below 102degrees Fahrenheit you may also have diarrhea early on after about seven to ten days, the cough turns into coughing spells that end with a whooping sound as the person tries to breathe in the air because the COFF is dry and doesn’t produce mucus these spells can last up to one minute sometimes.whooping cough treatmentit can cause your face to briefly turn red or purple most people with whooping cough have coughing spells but not everyone does infants may not make the whooping sounder even cough but they might gasp for air or try to catch their breath during these spells some may vomit diagnosis of whooping the cough will involve an assessment of the nature and history of the symptoms the disease can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages because of its the resemblance to common cold or bronchitis as the whooping cough bacteria can be detected in respiratory secretions, nose and throat swabs may be taken to confirm the diagnosis of a chest x-ray and blood tests may also be performed whooping cough treatment.
If doctors diagnose whooping cough early on antibiotics can help cut down coughing and other symptoms they can also help prevent the infection from spreading to others most people are diagnosed too late for antibiotics to work well though don’t use over-the-counter cough medicines call suppressants on expectorants in medicines that make you cough up mucus to "treatment whooping cough" they don’t work if your coughing spells are so bad that they keep you from drinking enough fluids you risk dehydration call your doctor right away.
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Pertussis whooping cough causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology
pertussis is a contagious infection caused by the bacteria Bordetella Pertussis which causes violent coughing spells called paroxysms which make it difficult to breathe when it's finally possible to breathe in the air is drawn in through partially closed swollen Airwaysthat creates a whooping noise that gives pertussis its other name whooping cough Bordetella pertussis is a gram-negativeCoco bacilli meaning that it looks like a short pink rod on a Gram stain it transmits from one person to another through a sneeze or cough and when that happens thousands of bacteria fill droplets spray out about two meters or six feet these droplets can land in the mouths or noses of nearby people or get directly inhaled into the lungs the bacteria can also survive for several days on dry surfaces so it's also possible to get the bacteria by touching a surface like a contaminated doorknob and then touching your own eyes nose or mouthBordetella pertussis releases toxins which are proteins that help the bacteria and various ways to attach to and damage the respiratory epithelial cells it starts with three toxins filamentous hemagglutinin pertactin and agglutination all of which help to anchor Bordetella pertussis to the epithelia where it remains during an infection next there's the trachealsaito toxin which paralyzes the cilia which are the little hairy projections on the epithelial cells
so that they can't sweep back and forth anymore normally the cilia sweep away mucous and any bacteria stuck in the mucous so paralyzing the cilia allows pertussis to stay snuggly attached to the epithelia this also means that mucus starts building up which triggers a violent cough reflex to clear the airway starting up those coughing fits another toxin is pertussis toxin which also helps with anchoring pertussis to the epithelia as well, in addition, to this though pertussis toxin causes an increase in the absolute lymphocyte levels in the blood specifically an increase in the population of t-cells floating around through a few mechanisms first of all pertussis toxin stimulatesT cells to divide causing them to leave the spleen and thymus and enter circulation and it also blocks them from leaving the blood and migrating into tissues pertussis toxin also makes the blood vessels in the respiratory tissue more.
sensitive to histamine which makes it easier for fluid to seep out of the blood vessels and into airway tissues this makes the airway swell up making it harder for a person to breathe and causes the classic whooping sound during a coughing fit finally there's a toxin called adenylate cyclase toxin which blocks phagocytes from getting to the site of infection and prevents them from being able to kill the bacteria that they do manage to engulf once they arrive as if that wasn't bad enough the adenylate cyclase toxin even inducesphagocytes to undergo apoptosis effectively killing themselves pertussis infection starts with the incubation period. whooping cough symptomswhich is the time between the bacterium entering the body and the onset of symptoms and it usually lasts about a week during this timeBordetella pertussis is in the respiratory tract but hasn't multiplied enough to create a noticeable amount of damage once the bacterial concentration increases though damage to the respiratory tract causes "whooping cough symptoms" like nasal congestion cough and occasionally low-grade fever this is called the guitar phase and it lasts about two weeks at this point pertussis is very contagious because the presence of a lot of bacteria in the respiratory tract makes them easy to aerosolizeafter that there's the paroxysmal phase which lasts another one to six weeks even though the immune systems killing and clearing Bordetella pertussis during this phase symptoms persist from the damage caused by the bacteria.
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when it was alive in thriving the most notable symptom that persists when a person gets paroxysms that comes out like a machine-gun burst an uninterrupted fit of coughing followed by an inspiratory whooping noise which comes from air sliding past a glottis that's still partially closed and swollen the violent force of these paroxysms can cause vomiting a collapsed lung broken ribs and tiny petechiae in the face as capillaries burst from the pressure rather than having violent coughing fits or making a whooping noise really young infants often have gasping cyanosis apnea or can have an apparent life-threatening event called an alluring this phase decreased oxygen levels can cause serious problems like seizures encephalopathy and even death there also an increased risk of pneumonia caused by other pathogens.
that take advantage of the fact that the respiratory tract is damaged finally there's the convalescent phase which lasts between two to three weeks during which the cough slowly improves the paroxysms and whooping fade away and the airway heals it's best to diagnose pertussis during the catarrhal phase because of the antibiotics can be used to kill the bacteria and reduce damage someways to identify the bacteria are by swabbing the nasopharynx in trying to grow the bacteria in a culture or by identifying the DNA of alive or dead bacteria by polymerase chain reaction another option is to use a direct fluorescent antibody. whooping cough vaccinewhich detectsBordetella pertussis antigens a final option is to look for pertussis serology looking for an antibody response to pertussis which is usually detectable after an infection has gone on for a few weeks one important predictor of the severity of the illness especially in young infants is the degree of lymphocytosis, fortunately, antibodies from the pertussis vaccine are a great way to avoid the disease in the first place or lessen the symptoms if it does happen pertussis the vaccine is most often given as a part of the DTaP vaccine which stands for diphtheria tetanus and acellular pertussis the vaccine is greater than90% effective in protecting against pertussis that's why pertussis outbreaks usually only happen in countries that don't have access to the vaccine in communities with a high rate of unvaccinated individuals and among the elderly who may have gotten the vaccine a long time ago.
But now have waning levels of antibody this is why vaccines, as well as boosters, are needed to maintain protection the main treatment for pertussis is macrolide antibiotics like if through Meissen which can be used when bacteria are still alive in the guitarraor early paroxysmal phase it's also important to prevent pertussis transmission to other susceptible individuals especially young infants and immunocompromised individuals and this can be done by isolating the infected person and giving antibiotic prophylaxis to household contacts infants younger than one-year-old are often monitored closely because they have an incomplete immune system and can get very sick and even die from pertussis.
pregnant women are encouraged to help protect their infants by getting the pertussis vaccine in her third trimester this is because the mother's immune the system generates antibodies that cross the placental barrier and offer passive immunity to the baby four months after birthright as a quick recap Bordetella pertussis releases a number of toxins that damage the respiratory epithelium causing whooping cough initially there's highly contagious catarrhal phase with symptoms like cough and congestion thena paroxysmal phase with coughing fits and whooping and finally a convalescent-phase when everything slowly improves in infants it can cause apnea an LTE's and even death.
