Symptoms of Pertussis
The clinical illness is varied because it can occur in mild cases and severe, as well as short or long. But on average takes six to eight weeks.
For this study we will divide into three periods:
CATARRHAL PERIOD .- The condition begins with Rinorea, sneezing, watery eyes, mild fever and dry cough. Disappearing the first few days while the cough progresses in frequency and intensity until it becomes paroxysmal in one to two weeks.
Paroxysmal PERIOD .- In this period we find the characteristic coughing spells of whooping cough, which are presented with 10 or more coughing, spasmodic, cyanotic, sometimes emetic, with protrusion of the tongue that ends with a prolonged inspiratory stridor . The stridor is not present in newborns and young infants.After the patient has access sweating, lassitude and drowsiness for several minutes. The number of hits per day varies with the severity reaching 40 or more and are predominantly nocturnal. These can be triggered by dust, pharyngeal examination, drink or eat and pressure in the trachea.
Coqueluchoide cough intensity and frequency increases for one or two weeks and then declined gradually until the period of convalescence, which can last from one to two weeks.
Convalescence .- In this period, the cough is no longer coqueluchoide or spasmodic or paroxysmal. The frequency has decreased and the intensity until it disappeared in about two weeks. Acute respiratory infections can trigger coughing reminiscent of coqueluchoide for several months.
In pertussis should be careful because these complications are often severe. Chief among these is pneumonia, which when present in the first weeks of development is of interstitial type with atelectatic parts of protracted course and resistant to treatment with antibiotics. If pneumonia occurs late, after the fourth week is almost always lobular (bronchopneumonia), less severe and susceptible to treatment.
Other complications include bronchiectasis, emphysema, tuberculosis activation, atelectasis and encephalopathy is manifested by seizures and is the most serious complication as it can cause neurological damage or death.