WHOOPING COUGH IN KIDS

How to deal with Pertussis or Whooping Cough

You may wonder why

whooping cough is worth

worrying about.

While prolonged coughing is

a nuisance while it goes on

– to say nothing of the

vomiting afterwards – is it

really a big deal?

Yes, it is. It can kill.

Pertussis is highly likely

to lead to complications,

especially pneumonia,

which is very serious

indeed.

In very young children,

the prolonged coughing

fits and vomiting can

interfere with sleeping

and feeding patterns,

meaning that a baby does

not get the energy reserves

to fight the disease or the

nutrients and rest needed

to grow.

The disease can also lead to

coughing blood and damage

to the lining of the

throat. Brain damage can

also occur, although the

risk rate for this is

uncertain.

Brain damage occurs

because the brain can be

starved of oxygen – it’s all

being coughed out and

drawing an inward breath

is difficult.

Whooping cough is highly

infectious, especially as it

looks like a milder ailment

at first. It can take some

time for whooping cough to

develop symptoms after a

child has been exposed to

the disease – up to a month.

The first line of defense

against whooping cough

is vaccination.

If you suspect that your

child has whooping cough,

the best thing to do is to see

your doctor straight away.

He or she will probably

prescribe antibiotics, which

will prevent bacterial

complications such as

pneumonia.

Your doctor will probably

also give you other advice

regarding how to care for

your child.

At Friday’s Child

Montessori, we want all

our pupils to be fit and

healthy so they can learn

and play, and enjoy the

process of growing up into

the people they are meant

to be.

We don’t want a

whooping cough

epidemic – or any other

sort of epidemic – going

through our nursery school.

So we’ve got the following

advice for parents:

www.fridayschildmontessori.com/blog