As per definitions whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection that causes severe hacking cough with a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like "whoop." And considering deaths associated with whooping cough are rare but most commonly occur in infants due to weaker immunity in such age point. And for such reasons it is made mandatory to get vaccinated to avoid such complications.
There are many causes that can cause such infections, right from environmental contamination to its contagious nature or just developed by it. But in most cases whooping cough is caused by bacteria and when an infected person coughs or sneezes, tiny germ-laden droplets are sprayed into the air and breathed into the lungs of anyone who happens to be nearby. And dispute precautionary measures like keeping yourself immune, and protected would also be not enough to cause such problems.
Though it is wise spread over its reach and there is no specific age group that can be categorized to cause such conditions. As it is thought to be on the rise for two main reasons, as one could be the vaccine you receive as a child eventually wearing off which causes most of teenagers and adults susceptible to the infection during an outbreak that can possibly be a frequent pattern for sake. And then there is possibility of children are not being fully immune to whooping cough until they've received at least three shots, specifically leaving those 6 months and younger at greatest risk of such infection conditions. though both conditions can be altered to some level by routine check up and maintaining healthy diet, but in most cases it can just be useful to minimized the odds not elimination thoroughly.
Symptoms :
In case if you are already noticing some signs like vomit turn red or blue, seem to be struggling to breathe or have noticeable pauses in breathing or even inhale with a whooping sound then it is time to consult and seek medical assistance and treatment as they are the advance symptoms of whooping cough.
And besides such obvious sign of conditions that are also some of the early sign of infection that could indicate whooping cough conditions too. Thought it takes about seven to 10 days for signs and symptoms to appear, but there are also some cases where it is cause to take longer time too. And being mild at first which could show many similar symptoms as cold like runny nose, nasal congestion, red, watery eyes, fever and also cough. And after those set of early sign let unturned or in many cases mistaken as regular cold, there comes the time when such symptoms get intense. And some of the more common signs like thick mucus accumulate inside your airways that could cause uncontrollable coughing. There are other more severe and prolonged coughing attacks may cause provoke vomiting, result in a red or blue face, cause extreme fatigue and also end with a high-pitched "whoop" sound during the next breath of air. In case of infants instead of coughing, they may struggle to breathe, or they may even temporarily stop breathing due to mucus accumulation in throat pass ways, which is enough sign to reach for paramedics.
Though difficult to diagnose in early stage, but considering on-going symptoms and with help of some tests like a nose or throat culture and test, blood test or a chest x-ray to check condition of inflammation in lungs, are practiced, to arrive on precise prognosis to define course of treatment.