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PKIDs, or Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases, has teamed up with actress Keri Russell to spread awareness of the very potentially dangerous illness called pertussis. You may know it better by the name ‘whooping cough’. This potentially deadly bacterial infection can strike at any age, but is particularly dangerous for babies. The sounds of pertussis are like no other, marked by a “whoop” made when gasping for breath after a severe coughing attack. You can go to the PKIDs website page for pertussis, and listen to an audio file of what a child with pertussis sounds like. If you’ve ever had a child come down with whooping cough, it’s a sound you never forget.

More than 50 percent of babies with reported cases of pertussis must be hospitalized. The coughing can be so severe as to inhibit eating, drinking, even breathing. Other dangerous symptoms include:

* Babies may bleed behind the eyes and in the brain from coughing.
* The most common complication is bacterial pneumonia. About 1 child in 10 with pertussis also gets pneumonia, and about 1 in every 50 will have convulsions.
* Brain damage occurs in 1 out of every 250 children who get pertussis.
* Pertussis causes about 10-20 deaths each year in the United States.

What’s really scary is that parents are responsible for more than half the cases of pertussis in babies. It’s a bacteria that lives in the mouth and throat, and when an infected adult talks, sneezes or coughs, droplets of the bacteria can be transmitted. The best way to guard against pertussis is to get a vaccination. The DTaP vaccine stands for Diptheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis. Adults aged 19 and over should have a single booster shot . Children ages 11 to 18 can also benefit from the booster.

For more information, please visit the PKIDs website. This has not been a paid or sponsored post, I just feel it’s important to spread this information to parents of young children. Thanks for reading.

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