Is it possible? Whooping cough

[RJmama]

DD is 17 months. Over the past week she’s developed a nasty cough; it started as a runny nose (which she still has) and now this cough.

Thing is, now when she starts coughing, she makes a whooping/gasping sound in between coughs. It’s been bad enough that she’s had some spit-up, and seems really upset by it.

Is it possible that it’s whooping cough?! She’s been vaccinated for it: I was vaccinated in pregnancy and then she’s had all her vaccinations to date.

Or could it just be a nasty cough? It’s come out of nowhere, and while she’s had coughs & colds before, this seems especially violent in terms of the coughing fits.

There are lots of different types of pertussis bacteria and not all of them are in the current vaccine. That can mean that fully vaccinated people can still get whooping cough. I would go and see your GP and explicitly tell them you think it's whooping cough - whatever it is, even if viral rather than pertussis , your daughter needs to see someone.

At 17 months, I would have that checked out, definitely.

I’d absolutely get it checked out.

I was vaccinated as a kid, had the vaccine in pregnancy the first two times, and then a few weeks before I was due my vaccine while pregnant with my 3rd, I came down with a really gnarly cough. Worst I’ve ever had in my life. And yep - whooping cough.

Thank you everyone. While reassuring to know I wasn’t being daft in thinking of it as a possibility, it’s worrying that she could well have it!

Will try & get an appointment with the GP.

I’ve done a little research and the suggestion is that if someone has been vaccinated but contracts whooping cough, they often have a milder version. If it is that, then let’s hope that’s the case here!

Croup? Sounds as scarey but thankfully isn't.. Have had dc with both....
Ds actually caught wc on the ward as a newborn.. Before jabs for dm's.

@Shesellsseashellsnotinmystreet thanks for the suggestion. On reading about croup further, I don’t think it’s that: a key symptom seems to be a hoarse voice and she doesn’t have that. NHS also suggests raspy breathing, but her breathing is fine aside from
when she has these coughs.

It's worth getting checked out. I had suspected whooping cough in March. They no longer test for it as it was taking so long for results to come back that it wasn't benefiting treatment. The GP said they now treat suspected whooping cough as whooping cough. I got a 3 day course of antibiotics and cleared it up quite quickly. I didn't have the classical whoop but had coughing fits lasting hours without reprieve and was coughing to the point of vomiting

Whooping cough has a VERY distinctive sound. Listen to some YouTube videos .

PS I wasn’t vaccinated but I caught whooping cough twice as a child - I remember both times. It was horrible. Definitely one for some antibiotics if the cough started recently!

DS had whooping cough despite being vaccinated. He was one month shy of the preschool booster and the doctor said that could have been a factor. Cleared up quickly though.

I’d have a listen to some YouTube videos for the distinctive sounds from whooping cough and croup. My LO suffers from croup annually and doesn’t really get a hoarse voice, he gets a heavy cold and that barking cough. Definitely needs checking out either way, hope your little one is feeling okay!

It's definitely worth getting checked out, but DS has had croup a few times and when he's coughing he'll "whoop" or gasp in between when he can't catch his breath.

Thanks everyone. I’ve had a look on YouTube and I’m almost certain it’s not croup; her cough really doesn’t sound like that barking noise. However it does sound rather like the whooping cough ones maybe not as strong/dramatic as some of the examples. But that could perhaps be because she’s vaccinated and so perhaps hasn’t developed a serious case.

She is otherwise fine, aside from the runny nose. She doesn’t cough constantly, it’s more like she has these episodes where it will come on for a few minutes and she’ll be coughing/whooping. Seems worse in the evening/nighttime. My DH is going to ask at nursery pick up if she’s been coughing much there.

Still looking for a GP appointment. Does anyone have any experience with what nursery will likely want us to do as regards keeping her home if it is suspected whooping cough: such as how long she’d need to stay away etc? We’re actually away for a few days next week anyway so she’ll be having four days away in any case.

If you truly suspect possible whooping cough, you need to keep her home from nursery until you have a confirmation one way or the other. It’s a very serious infection and you could make another child or their family member very ill. It’s the sort of thing that our GP would get you a same day appointment for, so keep her home and do that tomorrow. And you absolutely cannot travel if still infectious. You are generally considered okay to return to school/work 48 hours after starting antibiotics, but I don’t know if they would need to have a confirmed diagnosis before starting antibiotics.

Antibiotics prescribed and could go back to the nursery 24 hours after starting them. Letter also went out to parents since it’s a notifiable disease.