Pertussis (Whooping cough) – liars tell us it is harmless

• child has pertussis
• difficult for him to stop coughing and to get air
• coughing spasms with a "whooping" sound that follows the cough are typical
• sound means child is trying to catch his breath before the next round of coughing

Pertussis
• serious disease especially for babies
• most babies who get pertussis have to be hospitalised and some even die

Pertussis germ
• lives in the mouth, nose, and throat
• spreads through coughing and sneezing
• spreads very easily from parent to child or child to child

Once infected
• takes 5-10 days to get sick

Symptoms
• adults usually do not get very sick
• children can have
• fever
• coughing
• severe cough with a "whooping" sound
• vomiting and exhaustion after severe coughing
• difficulty breathing

Complications
• pneumonia
• seizures
• brain damage
• death

Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Thank you to the Immunization Action Coalition

You can see and hear what pertussis is all about:

Audio 1 (35 seconds)

Audio 2 (16 seconds)

Audio 3 (26 seconds)

Audio 4 (15 seconds)

Here's a nice sign that was for sale on eBay. It reminds us of how worried people could be about pertussis before liars started saying that the vaccine was more dangerous than the disease.