Pertussis: Whooping Cough

Include information about the disease and its symptoms

Pertussis, otherwise known as the whooping cough or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease in which the patient suffers from severe coughing fits, after which a high pitched “whoop” sound or gasp may occur as a patient breathes. These coughing fits can become so extreme that they can cause the patient to vomit, break ribs, and experience extreme fatigue from the effort of coughing. People suffering from Pertussis may also lose weight and lose control of their bladder.

Pertussis in babies under the age of one is extremely dangerous and can be deadly, the baby has little to no cough but instead will have apnea, in which the baby goes through periods of time where they

Gram-negative bacteria contain a layer of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) When the bacteria enters the body, the LPS triggers the body’s immune response. The body recognises a cytokine reaction from the bacteria which is toxic to the body and responds by inflaming the tissues and blood vessels. The certain cells used against the bacteria Bordetella Pertussis include innate and specific defenses, but the defensive antigens have not been exclusively identified.

Explain how the disease can be treated.

Pertussis is generally treated with antibiotics and it is vital to use the antibiotics early on in the infection or it will have little to no effect. Antibiotics work best before the coughing fits begin because after three weeks the bacteria Bordetella Pertussis would have already damaged the body and left. Taking antibiotics in the early stages of Pertussis can help stop the disease from spreading in close

A vital way Pertussis is prevented is through vaccines. There are two types of Pertussis vaccines, whole-cell vaccine (wP) and acellular Pertussis (aP) There is little difference between the vaccines as the efficiency in defence against Pertussis are similar and the adverse effects are minor in both vaccines, the main difference is the price. aP vaccines are commonly used in developed countries because people can afford them, whilst in developing countries wP is the preferred vaccine because of the low prices.

The human immune response against wP vaccines is directed against an array of antigens of the whole bacterial cells. Some antigens like Pertussis Toxins (PT) have been recorded as “immune response modifiers” There are also records of substantial disparities in immune responses depending on the antigens found in different vaccines that were tested.

The human immune response against aP vaccines are directed against “purified protein virulence factors” it was also said by ‘Decker & Edwards’ that “Significant differences in immunogenicity per µg protein between different vaccines have been