Symptomatic treatment of the cough in whooping cough

Bettiol S, Thompson MJ, Roberts NW, Perera R, Heneghan CJ, Harnden A

Summary

Treatment of the cough in whooping cough

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is an infectious bacterial disease. It affects infants and small children, and can be life-threatening in unimmunised infants younger than three months of age. Infants with whooping cough experience severe bouts of coughing and vomiting which can lead to dehydration and difficulty breathing. Routine vaccination can prevent illness and protect infants and children against death and admission to hospital.

Whooping cough also affects older children and adults, and new vaccine strategies are being developed to improve coverage, as neither immunisation nor natural infection result in lifelong immunity. New improved laboratory methods and higher awareness amongst doctors have helped improve surveillance of community outbreaks. These methods have also helped improve diagnosis as antibiotics can limit the course of the disease if given in the early stage of the illness. In the later stages, antibiotics have little individual benefit and treatment with corticosteroids, salbutamol, pertussis specific immunoglobulin (antibodies to increase the body's resistance) or antihistamines has been used in an attempt to reduce the cough while the disease runs its course.

We found that current trials did not provide enough evidence to determine whether these drugs can reduce the cough in whooping cough.