Whooping Cough (Pertussis)
Whooping cough or pertussis (L. per = intensive; tussis = cough) is a highly contagious, primarily childhood respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis which is small gram-negative, aerobic coccobacillus. The spasmodic coughing gives the disease its name because a whooping sound results from the patient inhaling in deep breaths to obtain sufficient air.

The pathogen is air-droplet transmitted and incubates 7-14 day in the body of the victim. Once inside the upper respiratory tract, the pathogens adhere to the ciliated epithelial cells and secrete several toxin, the most important being the pertussis-toxin. The disease can be prevented by vaccinating children by DPT-vaccine when they are 2-3 months old. Antibiotics erythromycin tetracycline, ampicillin or chloramphenicol are used to cure the disease.