Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly infectious disease that is spread by coughing and sneezing. It’s a serious infection that causes a long coughing illness and can be life threatening.
Whooping cough
Summary
Whooping cough can be very serious for babies and children – especially those under 1 year old. If babies catch whooping cough, they:
- may not be able to feed or breathe properly.
- may become so ill they need to go to hospital.
- could end up with serious complications such as pneumonia and brain damage.
To protect your baby, get your free immunisation during pregnancy and take your baby for their free immunisations when they’re 6 weeks, 3 months and 5 months old.
When it’s infectious
People with whooping cough are infectious from 6 days after exposure to the bacteria, when symptoms are like a normal cold, to 3 weeks after the ‘whooping’ cough begins – unless they are treated with antibiotics
Many babies catch whooping cough from their older siblings or parents – often before they’re old enough to be vaccinated.
Symptoms
The symptoms of whooping cough usually appear around a week after infection. This delay is known as the incubation period.
The first signs of whooping cough are like a cold, with a blocked or runny nose, sneezing, a mild fever and persistent spasms of coughing, often followed by a 'whoop'. This is when you’re most infectious.
After about a week you or your child:
- will have uncontrollable coughing fits that last for a few minutes and are worse at night
- may make a ‘whoop’ sound when gasping for breath between coughing fits
- may bring up a thick mucus that can make you vomit or choke.
When to see your doctor
If you think you or a family member may have whooping cough, see your doctor as soon as possible.
Your doctor can test to see whether it is whooping cough. If your doctor suspects that you have whooping cough and tests you for it, then you may be advised to stay at home and away from work/school/day care while awaiting the test results so that you don’t infect others.
- If it is whooping cough, you may be given antibiotics. It is important that you complete the course of antibiotics to kill all the bacteria
- Your doctor will also tell you how to care for yourself or your child at home while you’re recovering.
If whooping cough is diagnosed in the later stages, it is unlikely that you will be prescribed antibiotics as you will no longer be infectious and they will not improve your symptoms.
When to seek immediate medical advice
You should seek immediate medical advice if:
- you have a baby of 6 months or younger who appears to be very ill
- you (or your child) appear to be experiencing significant breathing difficulties such as extended periods of breathlessness
- you (or your child) develop serious complications, such as seizures (fits) or pneumonia, an infection that causes inflammation of the tissues in your lungs
In babies whooping cough is very serious and may require hospitalisation.
Treatment
If you’ve got whooping cough, it’s important to isolate and stay away from school and work. It is especially important to stay away from babies, young children and pregnant women.
Whooping cough is normally treated with antibiotics at home. If you’ve got whooping cough, you are required to isolate until you have received at least 2 to 5 days of antibiotic treatment (length of time depends upon the type of antibiotic used) or at least 3 weeks after you first experienced symptoms, whichever comes first.
Isolating means staying away from school, early childhood centres, work and others places that bring you into close contact with other people. It is especially important to stay away from babies, young children and pregnant women.
Please speak to your doctor or health provider for further advice about isolating.
Young babies (less than 1 year old) with whooping cough may need hospital treatment to avoid developing complications.
If your child is admitted to hospital to be treated for whooping cough, they are normally put into an isolation room. This is to stop the infection spreading to other patients.
See your doctor
If you think you or a family member may have whooping cough, see your doctor as soon as possible.
Your doctor can test to see whether it is whooping cough.
- If it is whooping cough, you may be given antibiotics. It is important that you complete the course of antibiotics to kill all the bacteria
- Your doctor will also tell you how to care for yourself or your child at home while you’re recovering.
If whooping cough is diagnosed in the later stages, it is unlikely that you will be prescribed antibiotics as you will no longer be infectious and they will not improve your symptoms.
Self-care
If you or a family member has whooping cough, try these ideas.
- Warm drinks may be soothing and help break the coughing spasm.
- A humidifier in the bedroom may help (it must be cleaned every 2 or 3 days).
- Use saline nose drops to help remove thick mucus.
- Drink lots of clear fluids.
- Keep away from things that trigger coughing, like cigarette smoke, perfumes or pollutants.
Call Healthline 0800 611 116 if you are unsure what you should do.
Prevention
Help stop the spread of whooping cough
- Make sure all your children are up to date with their immunisations.
- Keep your baby away from anyone with a cough.
- If you have a cough yourself, stay away from babies.
- If you’ve got a cough that won’t go away, see your doctor.
Immunisation
Multiple whooping cough vaccinations are needed to protect you throughout your life.
Whooping cough vaccines are free for pregnant people, all children under 18 years old and adults from 45 and 65 years old.
In this section
- Information on the number of whooping cough cases notified to the Ministry, 1 January 2017 to 31 May 2018. Read more
Resources
Protecting Baby Starts in Pregnancy: poster
Available on HealthEd
Childhood Immunisation
Available from HealthEd.
Year 7 Immunisation for Tetanus, Diphtheria and Whooping Cough
Available from HealthEd.
Related websites
Immunisation Advisory Centre
Independent advice for parents on the immunisations available in New Zealand.
Kidshealth
Developed by the Starship Foundation and the Paediatric Society of New Zealand.