Vaccination is the most effective measure to prevent and control whooping cough (service window)
Recently, cases of whooping cough have appeared in some places. What is whooping cough, is it contagious, what are its symptoms, and how to treat and prevent it? The reporter interviewed disease control and medical experts.
"Pertussis is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis and is highly contagious." Zheng Hui, deputy director of the Bacterial Disease Vaccine Office of the Immunization Program Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that whooping cough is one of the common childhood diseases with a long course. The paroxysmal spasmodic cough lasts for 2-3 months in typical cases. Whooping cough is mainly spread through respiratory droplets. Therefore, for infants and young children, family members infected with whooping cough are the main source of infection, and children must be protected.
Zheng Hui said that the incubation period of whooping cough is 5-21 days, and it is contagious from the beginning of the incubation period to 6 weeks after the onset of disease, especially from the end of the incubation period to 2-3 weeks after the onset of cough symptoms, which is the most contagious. People of all ages can be infected with whooping cough, but infants and young children without a history of immunity are at higher risk. The younger the child, the higher the risk of complications and severe illness. Young children are prone to pneumonia, and some children may be complicated by pertussis encephalopathy.
"The typical symptom of whooping cough is that a child will make a rooster-like sound when inhaling after coughing." Xu Baoping, director of the Respiratory Center Office of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that from a clinical point of view, the treatment situation of whooping cough cases is not much different from previous years. . Children infected with whooping cough are prone to spasmodic coughing and severe coughing, and may develop complications such as pneumothorax, pneumonia, encephalopathy, etc. If you find that your child has a severe cough, parents should take their child to the doctor as soon as possible.
Xu Baoping said that anti-infective treatment is the main method to treat whooping cough. In addition to anti-infective treatment, general treatment is the same as for other respiratory diseases, such as maintaining comfortable indoor temperature and humidity. For older children, they should get enough rest, do not participate in strenuous activities, do not stay up late, and stop going to school if they are contagious.
"From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, whooping cough is mainly phlegm, and the treatment is to eliminate phlegm." Li Min, director of pediatrics at Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, analyzed that for ordinary children, phlegm is very sticky in the airways and cannot be coughed out. This stimulates coughing in the airways, so the key is to eliminate phlegm. It is more common for children with liver fire to invade the lungs. In clinical practice, the method of clearing the lungs and reducing phlegm, especially the liver, is often used for treatment.
Li Min said that whooping cough can be divided into Qi deficiency type and Yin deficiency type during the recovery period of the disease. Children with yin deficiency type have less phlegm, but it is sticky and difficult to cough up. You can boil a little pear water with white fungus or Sichuan scallop in it. Children with qi deficiency type have more phlegm and are prone to diarrhea. They can soak tangerine peel in hot water and drink it. If the child does not get good results after antibiotics or aerosol treatment, but can accept Chinese medicine, it is recommended to take Chinese medicine at the same time, which will have good results, because Chinese medicine has a good effect of resolving phlegm and relieving cough.
Vaccination is currently the most effective measure to prevent and control whooping cough. Zheng Hui said that vaccination with acellular pertussis vaccine has a good effect on reducing severe illness and mortality after infection. According to the national immunization program, children should receive one dose of pertussis-containing vaccine at 3, 4, 5 months and 18 months of age. Children of school age should be fully vaccinated with pertussis-containing vaccines in a timely manner. If the vaccination is not completed in time, parents should take their children to re-vacculate as soon as possible. During the re-vaccination, the interval between each of the first three doses shall not be less than 28 days, and the interval between the fourth and third doses shall not be less than 6 months.
Reporter Shen Shaotie
(People's Daily)