Whooping Cough?

Consider this blog a public service announcement. Remember all the immunizations you got when you were a little kid? Many of them can "wear off" when you're a grownup. How do I know? Because I caught Whooping Cough! It's also called pertussis & is the "P" in the DPT immunization. How do you know if you have Whooping Cough? First of all you cough uncontrollably & at the end of the coughing fit you inhale a large gulp of air that makes a "whooping" sound. Also, unlike a regular cold, your cough doesn't go away. For many people, including me, it can last for over three months! Before the vaccine became available, 5,000-10,000 people a year would DIE from whooping cough. There's a sudden rise in cases of whooping cough because many parents are choosing not to immunize their children & as a result those kids are infecting the adults (whose immunizations have worn off). Unfortunately once you have it, there's really no effective treatment.