Severe course of whooping cough in a month-old child

Acute respiratory diseases are more and more being registered among the population. According to Rospotrebnadzor, the incidence of acute respiratory infections in the Russian Federation in 2023 amounted to 15911.94 per 100.000 of population. Whooping cough plays a special role in the structure of acute respiratory infections. The largest increase is noted in the last months of 2023. In total, 20.497 cases of whooping cough were registered in the Russian Federation for 9 months of 2023. Whooping cough is an acute anthroponotic infection caused by whooping cough bacteria (Bordetella pertussis), accompanied by catarrhal phenomena in the upper respiratory tract and paroxysmal spasmodic cough. In young children, severe forms of whooping cough are still the most common, leading to a fatal outcome. One of the severe complications in children of the first years of life is encephalopathy, with persistent organic brain damage. In adolescents and adults, whooping cough often occurs in atypical forms and is manifested by a prolonged cough, for which they receive, as a rule, ineffective therapy from a pediatrician, therapist, allergist and otorhinolaryngologist. Whooping cough refers to diseases controlled by specific prevention. However, for children of an earlier age, infection from older children in the family or from adults is typical. This article presents a clinical observation of a severe course of whooping cough in a child aged 1 month, the disease proceeded with a paroxysmal cough, mainly nocturnal, with long reprises and redness of the face, ending with apnea of varying severity and duration. Determination of the severity of the course of pertussis infection is based on a complex of clinical and laboratory data. An early and effective method of etiological verification of whooping cough in children of the first year of life is PCR (polymerase chain reaction) of nasal/oropharyngeal smears.