with spasmodic cough and inhalatory roar, prolonged cough...... Recently, whooping cough, as an acute respiratory infectious disease, has attracted much attention, and related cases have appeared in pediatrics in some hospitals. What is whooping cough and how does it spread? What are the clinical symptoms? How to prevent and treat it? In response to the hot spots of public concern, the National Health Commission organized disease control and medical experts to be interviewed by the media on March 31 to give professional answers.
What is pertussis?Bordetella pertussis causes + droplet transmission
Pertussis is one of the most common childhood diseases and one of the leading causes of infant mortality worldwide. Zheng Hui, deputy director of the Department of Bacterial Disease Vaccine of the Immunization Planning Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that pertussis is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, which is highly contagious and has a long course of disease, and is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets.
According to the Pertussis Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol (2023 Edition), the incubation period of whooping cough is generally 7 to 14 days, and some can reach 21 days. It is contagious from the end of the incubation period to 6 weeks after the onset of symptoms, and is most contagious from the end of the incubation period to 2 to 3 weeks after the onset of symptoms.
Xu Baoping, director of the Respiratory Center Office of Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that whooping cough is generally divided into three stages: catarrhal stage, spasmodic cough stage and recovery stage, and if there is no intervention, the three stages usually last for about 100 days.
According to experts, the catarrhal phase is mainly manifested as runny nose, sneezing, sore throat and other symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection, most of which have no fever or initial transient fever; the cramp cough period usually starts from the second week, and the iconic symptoms are spasmodic cough, that is, a series of severe and severe coughs, accompanied by deep and long inhalation after spastic cough, high-pitched rooster crow-like sound, commonly known as "hook back", light day and night heavy, spasmodic cough is more prominent during sleep, affecting sleep; the recovery period generally lasts 1 to 2 weeks, and the frequency and severity of cough gradually decrease.
General treatment + anti-infective therapy + symptomatic treatment
Xu Baoping introduced that the treatment of whooping cough includes general treatment, anti-infective treatment and symptomatic treatment. Among them, the general treatment includes providing a good and comfortable environment for the child, and the symptomatic treatment includes expectorant and asthmatic, and if the child has complications, he should be sent to the doctor in time.
"The child suffers from whooping cough, mainly because there is thick phlegm in the airway, and the more he can't cough it out, the more it will irritate the airway cough, and the child needs to be helped to remove expectoration. Li Min, director of the Department of Pediatrics of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Capital Medical University, introduced that according to the different physiques of children, it is necessary to distinguish the syndrome type. In clinical practice, it is commonly used to clear the lungs and dissolve phlegm, especially the method of liver cleansing, and the commonly used drugs include pediatric heron cough pills.
Pertussis generally has a long course of disease, how to better care for it in the later stage? Li Min said that children have different physiques of cold, heat, deficiency and solidity, and the later stage is mainly divided into qi deficiency type and yin deficiency type. Children with qi deficiency constitution have more sticky sputum, less phlegm when coughing, it is difficult to cough up, and the stool may be dry, so they can take pear water or white fungus water, etc.;
How to prevent it: vaccination + good hygiene
Zheng Hui introduced that vaccination with pertussis-containing ingredients is the most economical and effective means to prevent pertussis, and has a high protective effect on reducing severe disease and death after pertussis infection.
According to the National Immunization Programme (NIP), children should receive one dose of pertussis-containing vaccine at 3, 4, 5 and 18 months of age. School-age children should be vaccinated with pertussis-containing vaccines in a timely and full manner, and unvaccinated children should be vaccinated as soon as possible.
Zheng Hui said that the protective antibodies obtained by pertussis through natural infection recovery or vaccine immunization do not last for life, and the protective effect of antibodies will decay over time, so the incidence of pertussis can be seen in people of all ages, and infants and young children are at higher risk. The younger the child, the higher the risk of complications and severe disease. Children at a young age are susceptible to pneumonia, and some children may have pertussis encephalopathy. For infants and young children, parents or other family members infected with whooping cough are the main source of infection, and families with children should strengthen protection.
Experts suggest that in daily life, the public should maintain good personal hygiene habits, wash hands frequently, cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, reasonable work and rest, and participate in appropriate physical exercise to enhance their own resistance; when taking care of infants and young children, when adults have cough and other symptoms, they should wear masks in time and strengthen hand hygiene to avoid infecting children. (Source: Guangming Daily reporter Li Heng)
6 questions and 6 answers to take you to understand whooping cough
