Whooping Cough

[edan]

Daughter (3) has had all of her scheduled vaccinations, so has had 4 of the 5 dtap (next one due in 6 months) so not yet FULLY protected. I took her in to clinic because she's had a hoarsy cough and some gunky sounds in her breathing. Culture came back negative, but since there is an outbreak of whooping cough, it begs the question...

Does the routing CF Clinic throat culture look for the bacteria that causes whooping cough?

Thanks!

 

[edan]

Daughter (3) has had all of her scheduled vaccinations, so has had 4 of the 5 dtap (next one due in 6 months) so not yet FULLY protected. I took her in to clinic because she's had a hoarsy cough and some gunky sounds in her breathing. Culture came back negative, but since there is an outbreak of whooping cough, it begs the question...

Does the routing CF Clinic throat culture look for the bacteria that causes whooping cough?

Thanks!

 

[edan]

Daughter (3) has had all of her scheduled vaccinations, so has had 4 of the 5 dtap (next one due in 6 months) so not yet FULLY protected. I took her in to clinic because she's had a hoarsy cough and some gunky sounds in her breathing. Culture came back negative, but since there is an outbreak of whooping cough, it begs the question...
<br />
<br />Does the routing CF Clinic throat culture look for the bacteria that causes whooping cough?
<br />
<br />Thanks!

 

[hmw]

How sick is your child? Any fever or sore throat? How severe is the cough? A run of the mill hoarse cough w/ congestion is probably not consistent with pertussis, but if your child is looking and acting very ill I'd be more concerned. Pertussis is usually characterized by a very distinct hacking cough & sharp intake of breath resulting in the noise that gave pertussis the name 'whooping cough'. What did her dr think was the cause of the cough?

I don't think they only look for certain bugs when they do a sputum culture- as far as I know, they put the sputum sample in a medium favorable to growing bacteria and other organisms and see what grows out and identify it based on several different factors. If stuff grows out that they cannot identify they send it to a more specialized lab (they did this with one of my daughter's cultures.) I would hope they'd be able to identify it if it was there- various forms of viruses, bacteria and fungi can all be identified in sputum; but if this is really concerning you I would ask very specifically 'if pertussus bacteria was present in her sputum, would her culture identify it?'

 

[hmw]

How sick is your child? Any fever or sore throat? How severe is the cough? A run of the mill hoarse cough w/ congestion is probably not consistent with pertussis, but if your child is looking and acting very ill I'd be more concerned. Pertussis is usually characterized by a very distinct hacking cough & sharp intake of breath resulting in the noise that gave pertussis the name 'whooping cough'. What did her dr think was the cause of the cough?

I don't think they only look for certain bugs when they do a sputum culture- as far as I know, they put the sputum sample in a medium favorable to growing bacteria and other organisms and see what grows out and identify it based on several different factors. If stuff grows out that they cannot identify they send it to a more specialized lab (they did this with one of my daughter's cultures.) I would hope they'd be able to identify it if it was there- various forms of viruses, bacteria and fungi can all be identified in sputum; but if this is really concerning you I would ask very specifically 'if pertussus bacteria was present in her sputum, would her culture identify it?'

 

[hmw]

How sick is your child? Any fever or sore throat? How severe is the cough? A run of the mill hoarse cough w/ congestion is probably not consistent with pertussis, but if your child is looking and acting very ill I'd be more concerned. Pertussis is usually characterized by a very distinct hacking cough & sharp intake of breath resulting in the noise that gave pertussis the name 'whooping cough'. What did her dr think was the cause of the cough?
<br />
<br />I don't think they only look for certain bugs when they do a sputum culture- as far as I know, they put the sputum sample in a medium favorable to growing bacteria and other organisms and see what grows out and identify it based on several different factors. If stuff grows out that they cannot identify they send it to a more specialized lab (they did this with one of my daughter's cultures.) I would hope they'd be able to identify it if it was there- various forms of viruses, bacteria and fungi can all be identified in sputum; but if this is really concerning you I would ask very specifically 'if pertussus bacteria was present in her sputum, would her culture identify it?'

 

[edan]

Thanks for your reply. Her cough isn't the seriousness of standardly reported whooping cough, but it has been going a while now with no other real symptoms. I read that the immunized can have milder presentations. It makes sense that they just let things grow and then identify. I'll check with the doc tomorrow. I am sure they'll love yet another call from me!
Have a great night.

 

[edan]

Thanks for your reply. Her cough isn't the seriousness of standardly reported whooping cough, but it has been going a while now with no other real symptoms. I read that the immunized can have milder presentations. It makes sense that they just let things grow and then identify. I'll check with the doc tomorrow. I am sure they'll love yet another call from me!
Have a great night.

 

[edan]

Thanks for your reply. Her cough isn't the seriousness of standardly reported whooping cough, but it has been going a while now with no other real symptoms. I read that the immunized can have milder presentations. It makes sense that they just let things grow and then identify. I'll check with the doc tomorrow. I am sure they'll love yet another call from me!
<br />Have a great night.