[Re: ] Pertussis Question

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody.

How concerned should we be about Pertussis?

The school nurse called me today, a child in 's class is the SIBLING of

a suspected case of Pertussis.

I called the ped who said the connection is remote enough not to do anything,

unless this sibling starts coughing, then that child should stay home. He

also said if has cold symptoms within the next two or three weeks to bring

her in, if we suspect Pertussis then Zithromax can halt the process if given

within the first week.

When I spoke with him I did NOT remember to remind him of 's DX, so I

don't know if he thought I was some overreacting parent of a healthy child or if

his lack of concern was accurate for our situation.

I have since looked up CDC info on Pertussis and am not happy with what I

read. If I understand what I read, by the time they have the " whoop " or horrible

cough (second stage), antimicrobials may not work. Sure I can take her in if

she has a cold, but during the school year she has about 400 colds!! She's

sniffling today and so am I, but so what? Incubation period is like 7-21 days,

that's a pretty broad range!!!!

Pertussis has a high probability of secondary bacterial infection, possibly

due to short term affects on the immune system (great!); complications include

ear infection, pneumonia and encephalitis (great!); infants have a pretty high

mortality rate, which scares me because I always consider to have the

ab function of an infant. Sigh. Well, I suppose if she did seem sick, a PID

parent would jump on it faster than someone else might, so that probably helps

the prognosis.

Pertussis is not specifically " encapsulated " , it's not a capsular

polysaccharide (CPS). But it does have a Lipopolysaccharide component (LPS), and

I have

no idea if (or another ab PID pumpkin) is more susceptible to that. Her

abs to pertussis were never checked, so I can't rely on that for comfort.

According to the nurse, the family is not electing to treat the rest of the

household yet, and I just read on CDC that 90% of household contacts of a case

will have the bacteria, even if they just colonize it or have a very mild case.

With all that said, we don't even know if the original case really even IS

pertussis. Also, had a HORRRRRRRIBLE cough late last winter that I thought

just HAD to be Pertussis (no whoop but she did cough 'til she gagged). They

did not swab her for it, but did treat based on lung involvement, calling it a

LRI or pneumonia instead. I wonder though.

So, thanks for any info. I don't want to be a ninny about it, but the whole

reason has a 504 Plan is so we can be informed early like we are, so it

seems stupid to be informed but do nothing!

I was very pleased the nurse notified me so early even though she's not even

sure yet -- I'm starting to dig her more and more!

(mom to , age 6-1/2, dairy intolerant-related GERD -- currently

has polysaccharide antibody def, previously had transient IgG, IgA, t-cell &

other defs... and also to Kate, age 3!, more dairy intolerant but very healthy!)