Pertussis Research Paper

Pertussis, also commonly known as ‘whooping cough’, is a respiratory disease. This infectious disease is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Bordetella pertussis is a gram-negative aerobic coccobacillus bacterium. These bacteria infect the upper respiratory tract of babies, teens, and adults. It is highly contagious and is horizontally transmitted. Coughing, sneezing, or spending an elongated time in the same breathing space as someone that is a carrier of the bacterium commonly spreads Bordetella pertussis. Once someone has come in contact with this pathogen, by either aerosol or droplet, the bacteria attach to the cilia that line part of the upper respiratory tract. Symptoms of pertussis usually develop within 5-10 days after being exposed, but sometimes not for

Early symptoms of pertussis for most people usually start with cold-like symptoms and maybe a midgrade fever. Although for babies, the cough can be minimal or non-existent. Instead babies may develop an abnormal breathing pattern called apnea. Due to this symptom babies are in the most danger when diagnosed with pertussis. Based off these common early stage symptoms of pertussis, many people mistake pertussis as nothing more than the common cold. This making pertussis not usually suspected or diagnosed until the later and more severe symptoms occur. These common later-stage symptoms for pertussis usually appear 1-2 weeks after coming in contact with this disease. These later-stage symptoms, that commonly occur, include rapid coughs followed by a “whoop”, vomiting during or after the rapid coughs, and exhaustion from the