Most healthcare professionals have, for a long time, thought that mothers are the primary source of whooping cough infection. New data, however, suggests siblings are more likely to pass on the infection.
According to The Star, these findings have come about after researchers studied some 1,306 cases of infant pertussis between 2006 and 2013. With this analysis it was found that some two-thirds of cases arise because they are passed on by immediate family members. With the most likely family member to pass on infection, coming in at the top were siblings, who accounted for just over 35 percent of infections.
In second place were mothers, who account for almost 21 percent of cases. Someway in a distant third are fathers, who accounted for 10 percent of the infections. The research was based on a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a contagious bacterial disease. The symptoms, first off in the catarrhal phase, resemble those of the common cold (runny nose, fever, and mild cough.) These symptoms are then followed by, in the second paroxysmal phase, several weeks of severe coughing fits. After the coughing, the third convalescent phase occurs; this is characterized by a fit of high-pitched whooping sounds often occurs as a person breathes in
Pertussis, which is an airborne disease, is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The main process of transmission is from one infected person to another. This happens as the infected person coughs and sneezes.
Outbreaks of whooping cough are common and cases spike every few years. The past year has been particularly bad in the U.S.
The new research about the risk posed by siblings has been published in the journal Pediatrics. The article is titled “Sources of Infant Pertussis Infection in the United States.”
