If we suspect whooping cough, the qualified doctor is aware and can make the diagnosis clinically. This is what he said about the show "Health in focus" on Radio "Focus“ Prof. Todor Kantarjiev, former director of the Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.
"If the child has been in contact with another child or an adult with whooping cough and starts coughing, personally, as a doctor, I would immediately start taking an antibiotic. If the right antibiotic is given to the child, he will not cough for a long time, he may not even get the paroxysmal cough characteristic of the disease. And most importantly, it will not infect the other children”, explained the expert.
He referred to the European Center for Disease Control in Stockholm, according to which the remedy for whooping cough is antibiotics.
"The antibiotic should be given before 2 weeks have passed since the onset of the cough. Why? Because it is a known fact that two weeks after the beginning of the paroxysmal cough, the bacterium no longer causes a cough. It's just that the toxin released by the bacteria irritates the cough center in the brain, and it lasts from many weeks to 3 months. Therefore, giving an antibiotic to a child who is in doubt because he was in contact in the class with a coughing child or an elderly person is the way out of the situation. This is what the European Center for Disease Control says. The same is the opinion of the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and Georgia.“
Prof. Kantarjiev also said that the antibiotic, when given from the beginning, eases the child's condition. Then the child coughs for weeks, not months. It is very important that the child, taking an antibiotic, will not infect other children, the expert is categorical.
What's more in the United States, the largest educational site for doctors, even addresses the issue of antibiotic prophylaxis, Dr. Kantarjiev said.
"What does prevention mean? When one child gets sick and you have more children at home, knowing how you've up-regulated their immunizations, you have good reason to fear that they'll get whooping cough without being sick, and give them a macrolide antibiotic. Some of them for a shorter period, others can be given up to 2 weeks. This is the prophylaxis with antibiotics, which is very important because it breaks the epidemic chain”, said Dr. Todor Kantarjiev.
He advised, in the current situation, to track down all children who were not revaccinated during the COVID outbreak. Particular attention should be paid to reimmunization before starting school and reimmunization in later childhood. "If we observe these things and if family members who are expecting a newborn are additionally vaccinated, I think there will be no problem.“
In his words, whether the babies will be immunized at a month and a half or at two months, it doesn't really matter. It is more important to immunize pregnant women, as well as grandparents who are expecting a baby in their families and will help raise them, said Dr. Todor Kantarjiev.
Source: www.focus-news.net