What Is Pertussis? How Can It be Avoided?

Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that usually lasts between 6 to 10 weeks. It can be deadly among all age groups. However,  pertussis can be more severe in infants, causing further development of hypotension, cardiac arrest, and bradycardia. 

A disease can be differentiated as pertussis if it displays a 2-week paroxysmal cough associated with an inspiratory whoop, posttussive emesis, and post-tussive syncope. Pertussis is caused by Bordetella pertussis and has three stages: convalescence, catarrhal, and paroxysmal.

Symptoms Of Pertussis

Symptoms of pertussis are mild at the start and look more like common cold symptoms. The symptoms develop between 7 to 10 days after being infected. These include:

• Apnea (in babies).
• Cough.
• Fever.
• Red, watery eyes.
• Nasal congestion.
• Runny nose.

Coughing attacks that are severe and last a long time may show symptoms like:

• A high-pitched “whoop” sound during the next inhalation.
• A blue or red face due to excessive fatigue.
• Elicit vomiting.

Complications In Pertussis

Pertussis has potentially life threatening complications in infants and therefore requires close monitoring. Some of these include:

• Death.
• Apnea (slowed or stopped bleeding).
• Bleeding in the brain.
• Seizures.
• Pneumonia.
• Brain damage.

Pertussis can also cause pneumonia in adults and teenagers. Severe coughing can also lead to:

• Sleeping problems.
• Bruised ribs.
• Trouble controlling when you pee.
• Abdominal hernias.
• Broken blood vessels.

Diagnosis of pertussis includes:

• Laboratory tests that involve analyzing mucus taken from the back of the throat through the nose.
• A history of typical signs and symptoms.
• Physical examination.
• Chest X-Ray.

Pertussis Treatment Market

The pertussis treatment market consists of DTP, DTaP, and TDaP vaccines. These include vaccines such as Pentaxim, Tribik, Tetrabik, Quattrovac, Hexaxim, Repevax/Adacel-Polio, Adacel, Vaxelis, Boostrix, Pentacel, Quadracel, Pediarix, Infanrix, Kinrix, and Daptacel.

Key players in the pertussis treatment market include Beijing Institute of Biological Products, Cansino Bio, China National Biotec Group, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Serum Institute of India, Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH, Bilthoven Biologicals, ILiAD Biotechnologies, and others.

Pertussis prevention methods include:

• Staying at home upon getting infected.
• Avoiding close contact with an infected person.
• Washing hands on a regular basis.
• Covering sneezes and coughs.
• Frequently disinfecting and cleaning and surfaces.

Source: Leading Pharma Players Exploring the Pertussis Treatment Landscape, By Delveinsight.