Whooping cough first resembles a common cold – This can tell the difference – 2024-05-10 02:00:33

You can also get whooping cough despite the vaccine. Adobe Stock / AOP

Cases of whooping cough have been detected in Europe now in increasing numbers. The disease seems to have become more common in Finland as well.

Chief physician of Helsinki’s epidemiological operations Sanna Isosomppi says that in Helsinki, whooping cough clusters have recently been found in Haaga and Oulunkylä elementary schools in individual classes.

– These students are the age at which vaccination protection has waned a little. In the rest of Europe, cases of whooping cough have increased, and with increased tourism, there may be more infections in us as well.

Head of diagnostics at Hus Lasse Lehtonen told Iltalehte at the end of the week that in the Helsinki region at the end of April there were 40 positive pertussis samples per week, while at the beginning of the year there were 3–4 per week.

The cases of whooping cough have also been increasing in children aged 10–14, their siblings and young adults in the region of Western Finland, reported Turku Sanomat.

Severe spasmodic cough

Whooping cough is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, with an incubation period of one to two weeks. Symptoms of the initial phase include a mild cough, runny nose and possibly heat, like a typical flu. Adults may also experience an exceptional sore throat in the early stages of the disease.

A paroxysmal cough typically starts about 1–2 weeks after the initial symptoms.

How can you distinguish a cough caused by whooping cough, for example, from a hard cough caused by a flu caused by a virus?

It can be difficult, says Isosomppi.

– You may not be able to tell the difference between the coughs, but in whooping cough the cough is spasmodic and occurs especially at night.

In a whooping cough, inhaling can also become difficult, so a wheezing sound is heard at the end of the coughing fit. Between bouts, the patient may have mild symptoms.

A coughing fit can be triggered, for example, by stress or a change in temperature, such as eating ice cream. The cough can continue for a long time and asthma can be suspected as the underlying cause.

Babies at risk

There are different types of viral infections, so there is no reason to immediately suspect a common cold as whooping cough, unless you have been in contact with a person who has contracted whooping cough, says Isosomppi.

A referral from a healthcare professional is required for the test. During the first weeks after the onset of symptoms, a PCR test is performed on the nasopharyngeal sample and, if necessary, culture. If the disease has lasted longer, the diagnosis can be confirmed with an antibody test in the blood.

People of all ages can get whooping cough, but the symptoms of whooping cough are usually mild in healthy adults.

Young children under six months of age are at the highest risk of developing a severe disease.

Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics if the symptoms have lasted less than a month. In a longer disease, the symptoms disappear gradually. Even without antibiotic treatment, those who cough for more than three weeks no longer get the disease.

Whooping cough in small children is usually treated in a hospital.