Pertussis (whooping cough)
Vaccinating mothers in the last 3 months of pregnancy passes on antibodies that protect babies in their first months of life.
Transmission
Highly contagious through the respiratory tract (90–100% of household contacts become infected).
Symptoms
Characteristic uncontrollable bouts of coughing in long runs, a bluish face, a high-pitched "whoop" when breathing in, clear sticky sputum and vomiting.
Complications
Secondary bronchopneumonia, sudden apnoea in newborns, conjunctival haemorrhage, ruptured alveoli, respiratory failure and death.
People at high risk
Infants under 6 months who have not had all their vaccine doses, pregnant women who have not had Tdap.
Preventive vaccines
- Hexaxim – 6-in-1 combination vaccine
- Infanrix hexa – 6-in-1 combination vaccine
- Pentaxim – 5-in-1 combination vaccine (acellular)
- ComBE Five – 5-in-1 combination vaccine (whole-cell)
- DPT-VGB-Hib (SII) – 5-in-1 vaccine (DTwP-HepB-Hib)
- Tetraxim – 4-in-1 combination vaccine
- Boostrix (Tdap) – Reduced-antigen diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis vaccine
- DPT (IVAC) – Adsorbed diphtheria–pertussis–tetanus vaccine
- Adacel (Tdap) – Sanofi reduced-antigen diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis vaccine