What if my 10 year old has Whooping Cough?

[Mama Soltera]

Can it really do any harm to her? She's pretty much out of nowhere started coughing and I'm a little worried about the "what ifs" of her having it. I keep hearing it's going around in our area. She has never been vaxed for this, but as a toddler was exposed to an adult who had it. They shared a spoon and everything and she didn't get it (we didn't know that adult had it until the next week!). Thanks for any insights or help.

[Bokonon]

First of all, a cough could be anything, so I wouldn't necessarily jump to whooping cough.

Search the forums for how to treat whooping cough.  There is a good thread here somewhere about treating with sodium ascorbate.  For an otherwise healthy 10 year old, WC will likely be unpleasant and an inconvenience for several weeks, but likely won't cause any unresolvable issues.

Last year, WC was said to be "going around" and I think something like 6500 people in the U.S. were diagnosed, though even that number isn't necessarily accurate, as many of the diagnoses were without testing, and many cases just aren't diagnosed because they aren't severe and resolve on their own.  So 6500 more or less, in a country of 300+million people.  11 or 12 infants died of it IIRC.  (I'm not dismissing those deaths as collateral damage, but all things considered, that's a drop in the bucket.)

[ma2two]

It could be whooping cough. You haven't described the symptoms enough for anyone here to know.

Whooping cough is actually pretty common, but so are a lot of other coughs. 

The best treatment for whooping cough is sodium ascorbate, which you can get at Whole Foods Market or some other type of natural foods store, or on the internet. If the sodium ascorbate is dosed correctly (enough and often enough), whooping cough doesn't even need to be that bad.

[Marnica]

WC doesn't "start out of nowhere" there is a prodromal period where your child would have had symptoms that resembled a common virus. Has he had a runny nose, fever, and mild cough and now after it seems the "cold" has resolved - the cough is increasing in intensity?

Lots of viruses cause coughs as well. My DS has a virus a few months ago and he had a junky cough that lasted for 2-3 weeks, but I never thought it was WC because it didn't really fir how WC presents and proceeds. I treat with SA regardless.

[Mama Soltera]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, I could've sworn there is usually a long cold before it starts so I hoped it wasn't WC. I don't think it is afterall. I'm thinking she may be devloping seasonal allergies. The coughing is pretty intense but it's mostly only in the morning and sometimes at night. Very post-nasal drip-ish.

Thanks for the reassurance. :)

[ma2two]

I'd much rather my child have whooping cough than allergies. But the cough is what it is. I just wanted to share that not everyone is scared of whooping cough. When you've experienced how well sodium ascorbate works for it, it just isn't scary anymore. Allergies are harder to treat, I think.

[Emmeline II]

When I was 5.5 months pregnant with my second in '06 I had to fly on a plane to my father's funeral, in February, and stayed with my sister's family with school aged children. I the space of less than a month I contracted strep (from my niece, presumably, as she had it), a vomiting/diarrhea virus, and what turned out to be WC-- and we are ok and my "baby" has the best immune system of any of us. My ds was 2yo at the time and had a lesser case of WC. I probably would have had an easier time if I had used SA. It started out as typical cold symptoms which went away after a week except for the coughing.

[Mama Soltera]

Well, not that I wasn't concerned for her but I was much more worried about having to miss a lot of work (solo mom) and I don't get any sick days so we'd be pretty screwed.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.
 

Originally Posted by ma2two 

I'd much rather my child have whooping cough than allergies. But the cough is what it is. I just wanted to share that not everyone is scared of whooping cough. When you've experienced how well sodium ascorbate works for it, it just isn't scary anymore. Allergies are harder to treat, I think.

Too true about the allergies.  I deal with them myself and nothing seems to help. :(