Pertussis transmission question

[bygones75]

Pertussis has a 5 - 14 day incubation period, most cases leaning toward the latter number.  During this period -- before one starts exhibiting symptoms -- can it be transmitted?  Or does one have to be coughing, etc to pass on the bacteria?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.  My family has said we cannot be around my new niece for her first year because my kids aren't vaccinated.  I'm not fighting it -- they really don't care about my opinion.  But when my mother starts spewing nonsense at me, I'd like to understand the facts better. 

Thanks again.

[kathymuggle]

This is a pro-vax link, but it answer the question:

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/pertuss/qandadis.asp

It seems pertussis is mostly likely to be contagious during the catarall stage (where symptoms are similar to a cold) and during the first 2 weeks of the next stage.

While you might mistake pertussis for a cold in the beginning, it seems to me that if you 100% well you are unlikely to transmit pertussis to anyone.

disclaimer:  I have no medical background.  hopefully someone with one will chime in

[ma2two]

This doesn't completely answer your question, but the CDC's Pink Book chapter on pertussis says,

"Persons with pertussis are most infectious during the catarrhal period and the first 2 weeks after cough onset (i.e., approximately 21 days)"

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/pert.pdf (page 219)

The catarrhal period is when the cold symptoms occur.

"The first stage, the catarrhal stage, is characterized by the insidious onset of coryza (runny nose), sneezing, low-grade fever, and a mild, occasional cough, similar to the common cold. The cough gradually becomes more severe, and after 1–2 weeks, the second, or paroxysmal stage, begins." (page 216)

Obviously you would keep your kids away from the baby if they had those symptoms, even if you didn't know it was pertussis. But the vaccine companies certainly have succeeded in causing fear.

[bygones75]

Thanks to both of you.  This is what I thought.  Like I said, I'll never get the opportunity to tell my brother and SIL this: they don't want to know.  But when I start getting battered by my mother, it's good to give her facts.  And these are from the CDC!!  Not some "nonsense witch doctor website".  (Obviously that's her quote, not mine."  ;)

Thanks again.