What Exactly Is Whooping Cough–and Can Adults Get It - Article Health

Whooping cough used to be primarily a childhood disease–and one that was becoming less and less common. In 1976, there were only 1,000 cases of whooping cough in the entire United States. But today, there are close to 50,000 documented cases of whooping cough (also called pertussis) in the U.S. each year, and half of those are among adults and adolescents.

“Pertussis has become increasingly common in adolescents and younger adults,” confirms William Schaffner, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Whooping cough symptoms
While whooping cough in children and adults do share some similarities, signs of whooping cough can look different in adults.

“What might distinguish it from children is the severity and type of symptoms,” says Afaaq Siddiqui, MD, a family physician at Henry Ford Medical Center in Michigan. In general, adult pertussis is milder than in children, because an adult's immune system "is better equipped to handle infection due to the prior vaccine,” he says. In other words, the vaccine’s efficacy may fade, but it doesn’t disappear; it still confers some protection.

Whooping cough treatment
There is treatment for pertussis–but a lot of the options just make you feel better while the infection runs its course. “Treatment is largely symptomatic,” says Dr. Schaffner. “We can give antibiotics, but they usually do not have a major impact.” Antibiotics can, however, prevent family members and other close contacts from getting pertussis themselves.

The pertussis vaccine is still the best prevention, especially because whooping cough can be contagious before any actual coughing starts. “Pertussis can be prevented by vaccination even though the vaccination is not perfect,” says Dr. Schaffner.

Children are protected through a series of five injections given between the ages of two months and 4 to 6 years. Doctors typically recommend adolescents get a booster shot at age 11 or 12 with the Tdap vaccine, which protects against pertussis, tetanus, and diphtheria. Adults 19 and older who did not get an earlier booster should also get Tdap.

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