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News tagged with pertussis

Mortal chemical combat typifies the world of bacteria

Like all organisms, bacteria must compete for resources to survive, even if it means a fight to the death.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 17, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Whooping cough vaccine may be losing its punch: study

(PhysOrg.com) -- Vaccination programs against whooping cough may not be fully effective because the bacteria that cause the disease have evolved new strains, a new study has found. A team of Australian scientists has ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Feb 10, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

From herd immunity and complacency to group panic: How vaccine scares unfold

Worries over vaccine risks can allow preventable contagious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, to make a comeback. A new study, published in PLoS Computational Biology, shows how to predict ways in which popula ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Apr 05, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Incidence and reproduction numbers of pertussis

Analyses of serological and social contact data from five European countries by Mirjam Kretzschmar and colleagues show that childhood vaccination against Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) has shifted the burden of inf ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Jun 22, 2010 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

New insight into an old reaction: Adenylylation regulates cell signaling

A new study reveals the importance of adenylylation in the regulation of cell signaling from bacteria to higher organisms. The research, published by Cell Press in the April 10th issue of the journal Molecular Cell, provid ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Pertussis

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough ( /ˈhuːpɪŋ kɒf/ or /ˈhwuːpɪŋ kɒf/), is a highly contagious bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Symptoms are initially mild, and then develop into severe coughing fits, which produce the namesake high-pitched "whoop" sound in infected babies and children when they inhale air after coughing. The coughing stage lasts for approximately six weeks before subsiding. In some countries, this disease is called the 100 days' cough or cough of 100 days.

Prevention via vaccination is of primary importance as treatment is of little clinical benefit to the person infected. Antibiotics, however, do decrease the duration of infectiousness and are thus recommended. It is estimated that the disease currently affects 48.5 million people yearly, resulting in nearly 295,000 deaths.

For more information about Pertussis, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.