Whooping Cough!

[lovetoscrap]

DD8 had Croup last week (which I thought she was too old for) and then her cough changed this week and yesterday I realized she was having severe coughing episodes and making a horrible whooping sound. I called the ped. and said that I must be crazy 'cause she is up to date on her vaccinations.

They got us in this morning and she has Whooping Cough! I had no idea they could get it when they have been immunized. Dr said that since she had the booster 3 years ago that is probably why she only has a mild case and isn't in the hospital.

And DH is sick with cold symptoms so I am really worried she may have given it to him and that DD13 and I may be at risk. I made DH go to the dr and they did give him an antibiotic just in case.

And of course DD8 has been at school so I am sure she has already passsed this on. I feel awful about that. I guess it is highly contageous. Of course she mostly likely got it from someone there. Dr said to keep her home today so the antibiotic can start working but to send her back to school tomorrow and the school was fine with that.

 

[kidzmom3]

are you sure she was diagnosed with Pertussis and they said she could go to school 1 day after starting antibiotics? I work in a hospital and we are required to report pertussis to the Board of Health. The patient is most contagious during the early stages and antibiotics can lessen the contagious period to 5 days. Pertussis is diagnosed by a mucus sample.

 

[bumbershoot]

"I had no idea they could get it when they have been immunized."

Anyone can get ANYTHING even if they've had shots for it. I'm sorry your kiddo's doctor forgot to mention that, you might want to make sure s/he tells his future patients the truth!

Head over to mothering dot com's forums (I think it's the "discussion" link) to their Health section. They have TONS of info on how to safely and easily take care of pertussis.

I'm impressed, though, that the MD actually tested her for it. Most MDs won't, they'll call it something else, so they don't have to report that a vaccine didn't work. So the MD gets kudos for that, even if they didn't give you full information while doing the shots.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Oh my goodness, that's so scary! Thank goodness you kept her properly immunized! My co-worker's 8 week old got this years ago and was very, very sick. I'm glad your daughter has a weaker case of it.

 

[Liberty Belle]

"I had no idea they could get it when they have been immunized."

Anyone can get ANYTHING even if they've had shots for it. I'm sorry your kiddo's doctor forgot to mention that, you might want to make sure s/he tells his future patients the truth!

Head over to mothering dot com's forums (I think it's the "discussion" link) to their Health section. They have TONS of info on how to safely and easily take care of pertussis.

I'm impressed, though, that the MD actually tested her for it. Most MDs won't, they'll call it something else, so they don't have to report that a vaccine didn't work. So the MD gets kudos for that, even if they didn't give you full information while doing the shots.

I'm so glad her mom made the decision to immunize her or it most likely would be a much worse case.

 

[mommasita]

Sorry she is so sick
I would call the school and talk about their policy.
I had this SO many times as a child, and it can be downright scary. My daughter had this last year, despite the immunization. She did get better quickly once she was on the antibiotics.

ETA: Just noticed your school was fine with it. I would see how she is the morning, and judge from there. It is Friday, so maybe an extra day home would be good. Mind you I am going by our freezing temperatures and snow and ice storms.

 

[Magic Mom]

There's been an outbreak of pertussis here too. DD was treated for it about 6 weeks ago, and she had her vaccinations on schedule.

 

[ols386]

I thought whooping cough was something different than croup???

 

[phorsenuf]

Scrappy, sorry she's feeling lousy. I hope she has a quick recovery. Tread lightly at mothering though, no offense to anyone here, but some of those posters can be a little out there. I don't think I'd follow any "medical" advice there and if you do, I'd certainly run it by the DR so it wouldn't inhibit anything the antibiotic does. Some things can make it ineffective. But of course, that's just my opinion.

 

[Christine]

I had whooping cough two years ago as an adult, although my doc never tested for it, that's what it was. Started out with a cold that had a cough with it. One of those coughs that starts leaves you gasping for breath and unable to talk or move. I didn't do anything about it because they can never do anything for a cough. The cold portion of it got better in a week, the cough didn't. After coughing for 3 weeks I went to the doctor to make sure didn't have bronchitis or something. I was all clear in the lungs. I ended up coughing terribly for about 3 months and it lingered for 6. I would cough so bad at time that I could not breathe or get any air in for long periods. Very scary. I went back to the doctor at which time he said "You know, I think you had/have whooping cough but there is nothing we can do now."

That's some rough stuff!

 

[mefordis]

Sounds like the vaccination doesn't work.

I wanted to also add that I wish your children a fast recovery.

 

[phorsenuf]

Sounds like the vaccination doesn't work.

I would think if the vaccination didn't work more kids would have it. I'm not surprised that people still get things we are vaccinated for. I was always under the impression it was to help prevent us from getting them, not to erradicate it.

 

[NewCrew42]

There's an 8th grae boy at my ds's school that has it right now.

Speedy recovery for your dd!

 

[Magic Mom]

Sounds like the vaccination doesn't work.

I wanted to also add that I wish your children a fast recovery.

From what I understand, you may still get it with the vacination, it will just be a milder case ( not life threatening). The adults at our school were offered free DTaP vaccinations when we had an outbreak a few months ago.

 

[mefordis]

From what I understand, you may still get it with the vacination, it will just be a milder case ( not life threatening). The adults at our school were offered free DTaP vaccinations when we had an outbreak a few months ago.

Do you know how long the vaccination lasts? If someone gets a booster at 5, would they be protected throughout their lifetime?

 

[asta]

I had whooping cough two years ago as an adult, although my doc never tested for it, that's what it was. Started out with a cold that had a cough with it. One of those coughs that starts leaves you gasping for breath and unable to talk or move. I didn't do anything about it because they can never do anything for a cough. The cold portion of it got better in a week, the cough didn't. After coughing for 3 weeks I went to the doctor to make sure didn't have bronchitis or something. I was all clear in the lungs. I ended up coughing terribly for about 3 months and it lingered for 6. I would cough so bad at time that I could not breathe or get any air in for long periods. Very scary. I went back to the doctor at which time he said "You know, I think you had/have whooping cough but there is nothing we can do now."

That's some rough stuff!

You know, our experience was very similar to Christine's. After the fact and several doctor visits, my daughter's doctor said that he thought that she had probably had whooping cough. What I find strange is that after reading all of these other posts is that he did not order any tests while she was so sick with this cough. He is normally very conservative and had seen her twice for this cough. It lasted forever and was so jaring that you could tell it was not a normal cough. She did not get a full nights sleep for two months because of coughing spells where she could not breathe. She had been vaccinated as a young child/infant but we were told that the vaccine she was given at the time did not deliver life time immunity like the current vaccines that are used. My younger daughter received this later kind of vaccine and did not come down with whooping cough even though she was around her sister a lot.

Back to my original point, do you think that different states have different reporting procedures for whooping cough? I can't imagine that my children's doctor would have been so casual about this if it was something that he had to report. He is very by the book and has never even given one of my children an antibiotic without a positive test showing the need. I can't figure out why he would not have tested a culture for whooping cough if it was required.

 

[Magic Mom]

Do you know how long the vaccination lasts? If someone gets a booster at 5, would they be protected throughout their lifetime?

Well, I'm not a dctor, I just pretend to be one on the Dis, but in my very important medical opinion, I think you hould ask your family doc.
I had all my DTaP shots, but the health dept. lady giving the shot told me it would be a good idea to get vaccinated again considering the possible exposure.
The shot hurt a lot, and my arm was sore and swollen, for days.

 

[asta]

Do you know how long the vaccination lasts? If someone gets a booster at 5, would they be protected throughout their lifetime?

I just mentioned this in my prior post. My children's pediatrician said that the current vaccines offer life time protection while older versions did not. This is probably why adults are offered booster shots. My 20 year old daughter received a vaccine that did not offer life time protection, while my 16 year old daughters vaccine provided life time protection. This may help pinpoint the time when the vaccine changed. I don't think that they make that big of a deal out of getting a booster as an adult because whooping cough is not as dangerous to an adult. Take my word for it, it will make you very sick but the real danger is in infants and young children. It is life threatening for them.

 

[binny]

There is an outbreak in the town south of here as well.

Scary stuff and I am glad you went in. I am also gla dyou immunized, I am sure it made it a lighter case of and hopefully your daughter will recover quickly.

 

[WDWBarb]

This thread is scaring me. DD had a terrible reaction to the Pertussis vaccine (the first shot) and didn't finish the series. She got the "D-T" of the "DPT" from then on. I worried and worried about Whooping Cough when she was younger but I never heard of any cases of it going around.

I need to call her Dr. and see if it's possible to get her vaccinated now (at age 14) - safely....