[mammal_mama]

My toddler's been having a cough for a few days, and occasionally watery eyes and nose. Other than that she seems very energetic and healthy. For the last couple of days, I've noticed that after coughing a few times, she inhales loudly and it kind of seems to have a "whoop" sound.

After that she breathes just fine and has no problem. I read up some on pertussis (whooping cough), and they say it starts really mild, and then gets worse. Apparently antibiotics can help if they're introduced before it gets severe.

My concern is that antibiotics can also cause complications of their own, even make my child susceptible to a secondary infection which could cause pneumonia, and is a leading cause of death with pertussis.

She's never had any vaccines.

My understanding is the main way to treat this is through supportive care ... of course, I'm not even sure if she has pertussis, it's just the sound she makes when she inhales after coughing, which is totally new for her, that makes me wonder.

Dh also wonders if it's our air-conditioning (central air) that's causing the problem. When our oldest was this age, she'd get really congested with central heat/air and we'd have to use a humidifier a lot. With this baby, she never seemed to need it, so we didn't worry about it -- plus our oldest doesn't get congested any more.

Any ideas will be welcome. I realize no one can tell me whether or not to seek medical care, but I'd love to hear from other non-vaxing families who've dealt with pertussis at home. My toddler still breastfeeds, so I think my milk will be the best thing for her at this time. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[2busy2clean]

Me!! Mee!! I've done pertussis with a 4 yo and a 4 month old and a dh who went into denial!! Oh it is ssssoooo fun.

You are right on target with your thoughts on antibiotics. Actually, all abx will do is make the cough worse, cuz the bacteria itself doesn't cause any problems, but when the bacteria die off, they produce toxins which destroy the cilia in the esophagus, and without the cilia, the body must cough all the fluid up, out of the lungs. (which is why cough suppressants ain't very good either.) And if the antibodies kill off all the bacteria at once, you get a major toxin release...

Vitamin C is this best supplement in pertussis. Vitamin C will not kill the bacteria (awww, rats!) but it does neutralize the toxin, so that the toxins are unable to destroy the cilia, and hence all the cilia that remain will continue to work. The way to determine the correct dose of Vitamin C is to give 500 mg to 1 gram every couple of hours until you reach bowel tolerance (aka diarrhea) then back off your dosing. Once you reach a high enough dose the cough should not worsen, but my personal experience is, you will have to continue a high dose (expect that dose to change as the body no longer needs high doses) for 10 days to 2 weeks. My then 4 year olds dose was about 6 grams.

If your toddler has pertussis, she should be hitting the stage where she wakes up 2 to 3 hours after going to sleep with a major coughing session -- without the supportive therapy of Vitamin C those coughing periods are the roughest (and messiest!)

Best Wishes!

 

[mammal_mama]

Thanks so much! I'm still not sure if it's pertussis yet, but Vitamin C can't hurt anyway. It's so good to hear confirmation of my thoughts on antibiotics for this.