Whooping cough
A highly contagious bacterial disease causing severe coughing fits.
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It spreads easily through droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.[1] Even though a vaccine exists for this disease, it continues to be frequently seen in Western nations among those illnesses that can be prevented by vaccination.[2][3]
Key facts and history
Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou first identified the Bordetella pertussis bacterium in 1906.[4] The 16th century contains the earliest known descriptions of whooping cough outbreaks.[5] The initial whole-cell vaccine that was inactivated came about in 1912, with subsequent versions created by other scientists in 1913 and 1914.[4] Pediatrician Leila Denmark's research into whooping cough began after an outbreak in Atlanta in 1932, and she later created the initial pertussis vaccine that was both safe and effective.[6]
The first DTP combination vaccine was created in 1942 when American scientists added the whole-cell pertussis vaccine to diphtheria and tetanus toxoids.[6] In 2018, over 151,000 cases were reported worldwide, but this figure is likely an undercount due to underreporting and misdiagnosis.[7]
What the research sources say
The World Health Organization states that pertussis spreads easily from person to person mainly through droplets produced by coughing or sneezing.[1] The World Health Organization notes that initial symptoms include a mild fever, runny nose and cough, which gradually develops into a hacking cough followed by whooping.[1] The World Health Organization describes pertussis as a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis.[1]
References
- "Pertussis", World Health Organization. facts only, no text reused. who.int
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Signs & Symptoms", Centers for Disease Control, August 4, 2022; "Preventing Whooping Cough (Pertussis) CDC", Centers for Disease Control, 2022-09-07; "Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Signs & Symptoms", Centers for Disease Control, August 4, 2022; "Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Signs & Symptoms", Centers for Disease Control, August 4, 2022; "Whooping Cough", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 November 2025; "Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Signs & Symptoms", Centers for Disease Control, August 4, 2022; "Pertussi en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pertussis resurgence: waning immunity and pathogen adaptation – two sides of the same coin", Epidemiology and Infection, April 2014, p. 685–94; "Pertussis resurgence: waning immunity and pathogen adaptation – two sides of the same coin", Epidemiology and Infection, April 2014, p. 685–94; "Resurgence of pertussis calls for re-evaluation of pertussis animal models", Expert Review of Vaccines, September 2012, p. 1121–37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Childhood vaccine development: an overview", Pediatric Research, February 2004, p. 347–56; "Pertussis", Museum of Health Care; Vaccines, "Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines: A Brief Chronology", Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines: A Report of the Committee to Review the Adverse Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines, 1991 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vos, "Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015", Lancet, October 20; "Update on pertussis in children", Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy, February 2010, p. 163–73; "Symptomatic treatment of the cough in whooping cough", The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, September 2014; Wang, "Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortali en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Changing the Face of Medicine Dr. Leila Alice Daughtry Denmark", www.nlm.nih.gov; Bannink, "Finding aid for the Michigan women and the whooping cough vaccine collection[s]" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whooping cough" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pertussis", World Health Organization (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Whooping cough (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Whooping cough (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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