Health

Staying up to date with adult vaccinations for the new year

Personal health is often among the top New Year's resolutions each January. Beyond diet and exercise, Dr. John Presutti, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says the start of a new year is a good calendar reminder to ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Maternal Tdap vaccination protects youngest infants from pertussis

Introduction of a tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination during pregnancy can protect the youngest infants from pertussis, according to a study published online Feb. 6 in JAMA ...

Health

Time to update adult vaccinations for a new year

Personal health is often among the top New Year's resolutions each January. Beyond diet and exercise, Dr. John Presutti, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says the new year is a good calendar reminder to update adult ...

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Pertussis

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough ( /ˈhuːpɪŋ kɒf/ or /ˈhwuːpɪŋ kɒf/), is a highly contagious bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Symptoms are initially mild, and then develop into severe coughing fits, which produce the namesake high-pitched "whoop" sound in infected babies and children when they inhale air after coughing. The coughing stage lasts for approximately six weeks before subsiding. In some countries, this disease is called the 100 days' cough or cough of 100 days.

Prevention via vaccination is of primary importance as treatment is of little clinical benefit to the person infected. Antibiotics, however, do decrease the duration of infectiousness and are thus recommended. It is estimated that the disease currently affects 48.5 million people yearly, resulting in nearly 295,000 deaths.

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