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Increasing cause of cough among adults
Author(s) -
Boulouffe Caroline,
Vanpee Dominique
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2008.01096.x
Subject(s) - medicine , whooping cough , chronic cough , bordetella pertussis , pediatrics , serology , intensive care medicine , differential diagnosis , productive cough , epidemiology , transmission (telecommunications) , immunology , pathology , vaccination , antibody , engineering , genetics , lung , biology , asthma , bacteria , electrical engineering
Cough is a frequent reason for ED consultation. When one considers the epidemiological data, whooping cough must be considered in the differential of subacute cough. Clinical symptomatology is slightly different in the adult and unvaccinated child. An infection by Bordetella pertussis should be suspected when the history shows a persistent cough for more than 1 week in conjunction with other clinical elements. Several methods are available to establish a diagnosis: culture, PCR and bacterial serology. An early diagnosis will allow effective treatment, limit the transmission to unvaccinated infants, reduce complications and prevent extensive and expensive check‐ups for chronic cough.