October 2nd, 2024 by WCBC Radio

The Allegany County Health Department has been notified of a confirmed case of pertussis, also known as whooping cough in the county.  Contact tracing to identify and notify close contacts of the patient is being conducted.  Dr. Matthew Simmons, Chief Medical Officer and Infectious Disease doctor at UPMC Western Maryland talked to WCBC about whooping cough symptoms marked by persistent cough…

“The reason it’s called whooping cough is because it does cause what’s called paroxysms of extreme cough, very violent coughs that go on and on and on and on several times in a row until a person will finally go [long gasp] which is the “whoop” while they’re making up for all the oxygen they just coughed out. It can be accompanied by vomiting, passing out, cracked ribs.”

Dr. Simmons says it is highly contagious, but there are steps to take, including antibiotics…

“Certainly get an antibiotic to help with whooping cough but again, it will not – it will stop the infection from continuing on but it will not prevent you from having the cough if you’ve already developed the syndrome. You’ll need other things like cough suppressants and sometimes other things to help with modulating your symptoms.”