|
health
|
|
A significant percentage of school-age children with a cough lasting two weeks or more may actually have whooping cough. A significant percentage of school-age children with a cough lasting two weeks or more may actually have whooping cough - also known as pertussis. Coughing in children is annoying and worrying. The problem for doctors is finding a reason because most cough medications are pretty useless. Some studies suggest that one in five adults with a long standing cough have pertussis. This UK study investigated over 170 school age children with a cough lasting at least 14 days. Nearly 40 per cent of them tested positive for pertussis, despite having been immunized, with most having had coughing spasms sometimes with vomiting. It took about four months for the whooping cough to go away compared to two months if you were pertussis negative. In Australia we're probably better at pertussis immunisation so this may not apply but even if it did, what should you do? It's probably not worth testing a child because there's no effective treatment but it gives an explanation for parents and an assurance that the cough will disappear.
|
