There have been several outbreaks of whooping cough here in San Diego. Just recently there were six cases reported on Wednesday, August 11, according to the news on Fox 5 San Diego. Children between 0-12 months are most at risk.
I didn’t mention this in our post about Pinky’s First trip to the ER, but the doctor really scared me and Daddy. Although Pinky was admitted for her burn, we asked the doctor to check on her runny nose and newest symptom red and watery eyes. I knew they weren’t from crying because she hadn’t been crying at all, even after her burn indecent. The doctor asked some questions about her immunization shots, coughing, temperature, and so on. Finally, she told us to be aware of Pertussis, otherwise known as, Whooping Cough. Daddy and I must have heard her wrong because we thought the doctor said Pinky had symptoms of Pertussis. We called her back in to verify and she assured us that Pinky looked healthy and that Pertussis is in fact difficult to diagnose. However, she did remind us to take precautions.
Here are some highly suggested precautions:
- Do not allow baby to be around other people who are sick, especially adults. Adults can help prevent Pertussis in babies by getting immunized too. According to The Sounds of Pertussis, “researchers have found, that in up to 80% of pertussis cases, infants caught the disease from a family member.”
- Keep current with your child’s immunizations, DTaP is specifically for the prevention of Pertussis. Children need four doses before they start kindergarten.
- Monitor any increase in baby’s temperature.
- Monitor coughing. If baby has any severe episodes of constant coughing with sounds of a whoop at the end, call you doctor. As the old adage goes, better to be safe than sorry.
For more information about Pertussis and how to protect your child from this dangerous illness, visit Silence the Sounds of Pertussis.
Read more about Pinky and ways to keep your baby healthy on our blog at http://thepinkyproject.com.