Antibiotics for bacterial infections and illnesses
Whooping cough can be effectively treated with antibiotics, and Perera said anyone who suspects they have the disease should get tested and prescribed medication as soon as possible.
“Treatment helps make the bacteria less contagious,” she says. “Let’s say a student is diagnosed with whooping cough. They can go back to school with five days of antibiotics, but if untreated they will remain contagious for three weeks.”
Post-exposure antibiotic prophylaxis may also be prescribed for other family members and close contacts.
Infants and young children are at highest risk for severe illness. Older adults and other adults with compromised immune systems or chronic illnesses, such as asthma, may also develop complications.
Pennsylvania Department of Health officials said in a statewide health advisory issued earlier this month that hospitalizations among older adults with whooping cough have increased this year.
“This is likely due to a number of factors, including the fading protective effect of vaccines and lack of timely recognition and testing among adult health care workers, leading to severe infections, superinfections and hospitalizations,” the advisory said.
The state health department warned that all health care workers “should maintain a high index of suspicion for whooping cough in all symptomatic patients.”
DTap and Tdap Vaccines for Children and Adults
Mr Perera said both children and adults should keep their whooping cough vaccination up to date, both as part of the standard childhood immunisation schedule and as a booster shot in adulthood, to prevent the disease in the first place or reduce the chances of it occurring.
The DTaP vaccine, which also protects against diphtheria and tetanus, is given five times to children at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years.
A single dose of Tdap, a similar combination vaccine for the same set of diseases, is recommended for children aged 11 to 12 years and pregnant women 27 to 36 weeks pregnant.
“During that time, antibodies are passed to the newborn,” Perera said, “so this is a way to help protect those who are most at risk for severe illness.”
A pertussis booster vaccination is also recommended for adults who have close contact with newborns and for caregivers.
“If you’re an older adult, and you have grandchildren who haven’t yet received their first dose, you need to make sure their whooping cough vaccine is up to date,” said Dr. Richard Lorraine, medical director for the Montgomery County Health Department. “Just as you don’t want to get whooping cough, which is a nasty disease, you don’t want to pass it on to your baby.”
Otherwise, the CDC recommends routine Tdap vaccination every 10 years for all adults.
Although the vaccine does not provide 100% protection against infection, it effectively reduces the risk of serious illness for several years after vaccination.
Before the pandemic, Pennsylvania recorded 649 whooping cough cases in 2017, 311 in 2018 and 278 as of mid-September 2019. Perera said it may take some time for the disease to return to normal levels.
“It may take this year, but then it will start to level off again or go back to baseline,” she said.
