Pertussis (Whooping Cough) is highly communicable. That means that if your unvaccinated 5 year old (who may, indeed, have "just a cough") coughs in a 5-year-old way, meaning does not effectively cover his/her mouth, and thus areosolizes infective matter from his/her body, near an unvaccinated infant: most likely the infant will acquire the disease. And die.
I know (or shamefully, am related to) parents who refuse to vaccinate against pertussis because "It is just a cough". Well, you idjits, study this site: Oh, wait, you and your kids have been vaccinated? No problem? Maybe not: Many clinicians are unaware that vaccination against pertussis in childhood does not confer lifelong immunity. The risks of household transmission are quite high.
Pertussis is a highly contagious disease. Clinicians should keep in mind that if a patient with pertussis were hospitalized, he or she would require respiratory isolation. Pertussis is especially contagious during the first week of the illness, but it is easily transmitted during the period starting seven days following exposure to three weeks after the onset of spasmodic coughing. Up to 90% of susceptible family contacts of an index household case develop pertussis. The usual incubation period for pertussis is from seven to 13 days.
Thank you for posting Pertussis information, I found out firsthand how serious it is through the loss of my precious baby girl who was still too young to be vaccinated.
Posted by: L | Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 01:55 AM