Possible Pertussis in 11 month and old and 4 year old

[AprilM]

Hi. My 11 month old has had a wet junky cough now for about 11 days, and within the last 2 days he has acquired an extremely congested nose. We took him to his pedi today so they could listen to his lungs, and even though they said his lungs are all clear, they still sent us to the lab to get him a nasal swab to test for pertussis. 

They say if it comes back positive, they will want all of us on Zithromax to prevent the spread. The doc said it doesn't stop the illness, but prevents the spread of the illness???

I am so nervous for my children. I don't want to rip up their little guts with antibiotics, but of course I don't want to spread this either. 

Anyone know when you are most contagous with pertussis and if treating the whole family with antibiotics is truly the best course of action?

Also, is the swab 100% accurate? 

Thanks in advance!

[Asiago]

Read about Sodium Ascorbate (SA) a form of Vit.C. treatment for Pertussis. I am very impressed with SA.

 Whatever you choose to do, I wish you and your family good health.

[Mirzam]

Here is an excellent resource on everything whooping cough which should answer all your questions.

Here is a very comprehensive article on treating it with Vitamin C by Dr Suzanne Humphries, Vitamin C for Whooping Cough. Updated Edition

[AprilM]

Thank you so much for those resources. Am giving SA now. That articles says that pertussis will give you 30 years of immunity....I didn't know this. I suspect my 4 yo had pertussis when he was 2....if I am right about that, does that mean he is immune?

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by AprilM 

Thank you so much for those resources. Am giving SA now. That articles says that pertussis will give you 30 years of immunity....I didn't know this. I suspect my 4 yo had pertussis when he was 2....if I am right about that, does that mean he is immune?

Quite possible. I (that is me personally) also would not give prophylactic antibiotics to a child that has had a natural pertussis infection.

New research (sorry its only a summary - you have to pay for the full study)

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X12013023

Quote:

"Although immunity after infection seems to persist longer than that after vaccination, the exact mechanism(s) is not known....Our results suggest that there may be difference in quality and quantity of antibodies to after vaccination and after infection."