How to Stop Whooping Cough? | What Is Whooping Cough? | Symptoms at Early Stage | Symptoms in Severe Case | Root Causes of Whooping Cough
Whooping Cough Prevention Tips
What Is Whooping Cough?
Whopping cough / pertussis is a bacterial infection that gets into your nose and throat. Clear whooping cough from your life with these natural home remedies. Symptoms, treatment of vaccine-preventable lung infection. Whooping cough or pertussis is a contagious disease. A new born baby has no immunity to this disease, and can get it any time after birth. It commonly affects infants. In many cases it can occur in children up to 5 years of age or in some cases children up to 12 years. The disease may cause serious trouble in the lungs. This highly infectious bacterial disease. Hence spreads rapidly by droplet infection. It spreads rapidly during the early catarrhal stage. Once the typical spasmodic bout starts, the infectivity becomes negligible.
Synonyms and Other Names
Whooping cough is known as pertussis or 100 days cough in some countries. It is also known as Kali khansi or Kukar Khansi in Hindi. Dangya khokala in Marathi, Kakkuvan irumal in Tamil, Koorinta Daggu in Telegu, and Villan Cuma in Malayalam. Some other names includes Bairike (Chinese), Tos ferina (Spanish), coqueluche (Portuguese), Hupim kasi (Bengali), Zakhlebyvayushchiysya kashel (Russian), and Batuk Rejan (Indonesian). This disease is also known as 100 days cough as it has prolonged course of 8 to 10 weeks. Treat whooping cough naturally with safe, effective remedies.
Whooping Cough Symptoms at Early Stage
Whooping cough is an acute, highly infectious, and quite serious illness which occurs mostly in children under the age of five. The incubation period of whooping cough is seven to ten days. Pertussis basically begins with a normal cold, which develops into a cough. The infection is bacterial and irritates the airways, hence causing them to become swollen and lined with thick, infected mucus. The coughing becomes severe, further with long bouts that have a characteristic “whoop” sound to them. Vomiting often accompanies the coughing. Whooping cough is more dangerous in infants, who can suffer anxiety from being unable to breathe normally. Infected patient must keep away from others as it is highly contagious disease. The younger the patient, the greater the risk of serious illness. Generally most deaths from whooping cough occur in the first six months of life.
Whooping Cough Symptoms in Severe Case
Due to the severity of bouts of cough, bleeding can occur into the eyes, from the nose, the lung, and, in rare cases, into the brain, resulting in convulsions. In many young children, lung complications such as collapse of a part of the lung are common because of the thick sticky nature of the secretions blocking the passage of air to a part of the lung. Secondary infection may result in pneumonia. They may be convulsions, and, in rare cases, inflammation of the brain. In immunized children, the disease is mild and atypical. Because of mass vaccination of children, whooping cough is now relatively rare, affecting only a small proportion of the population.
Root Causes of Whooping Cough
Root cause is bacteria – Bordetella pertussis or Bordetella parapertussis. Of these, the first one chiefly gives the rise to more severe infections. Various other viruses such as – adenovirus, para influenza and respiratory viruses are also causes of whooping cough. The actual cause of the disease, however, is wrong feeding of children with refined and demineralized foods and absence of a sufficient quantity of fresh fruits and salad vegetables in their dietary. This results in accumulation of excessive quantities of catarrh and mucus in the child’s system. The disease is an attempt on the part of the nature to throw out this catarrh and mucus. The use of drugs to treat other diseases can also lead to whooping cough.
Pertussis Home Remedies – How to Stop Whooping Cough?
- Garlic Poultice: A garlic poultice very effective home remedy. Just place it on the chest and back area. This helps to expel the phlegm. Do not leave the poultice on for too long, because it can cause blistering. OR Peel few garlic cloves. Then grind and take out juice. Depend upon the cough severity adjust the dose from 5 drops to 1 table spoon, 2-3 times a day.
- Ginger: One more effective remedy is ginger. Take 2 cups of water, add 1 tablespoon of fenugreek seeds. Then bring it to boil and keep boiling till it becomes 1 cup. Finally, strain the mixture. In this water which is rich with fenugreek seeds extract add 1 tablespoon fresh ginger juice and honey to taste.
- Donkey’s Milk: Yes, donkey’s milk. This is a folk remedy for whooping cough.
- Onion: Mix together 10 drops of white onion juice, 10 drops of ginger juice and 5 drops of almond oil. Then give this mixture, 3 times a day for 15 days.
- Radish: Take 1 tablespoon fresh radish juice and add same amount of honey and pinch of crystal salt or rock salt in it. Take 3 times a day.
- Vekhand Herb: Mix a pinch of vekhand (Sweet Flag / Calamus / Acorus calamus) powder in a tablespoon of honey. Adjust dose for child depend upon the severity of the cough. This is good remedy for strong and frequent whooping cough attacks. Try another remedy with honey and licorice. Mix honey and licorice with a little hot water to make a drink to relieve the cough.
- Bakul Flowers: Take 1/4 cup of bakul (Mimusops elengi / Spanish cherry / Medlar / Bullet wood) flowers. Boil 2 cups of water and add flowers in it. Keep boiling till water becomes 1/2 cup. Finally, strain the water and add sugar (double as that of water). Take 1 tablespoon at a time, 4 times a day.
- Essential Oil: Mix a few drops of lavender and chamomile oils in a light carrier oil, and then massage into the chest and back area to calm, and to relax tensed muscles. Or try tea tree, lavender, chamomile, and eucalyptus in a vaporizer to help open up the lungs and reduce spasm. After the bath, massage a little comfrey ointment into the chest and back to relax and expand the lungs.
- Thyme: Thyme tincture is effective for whooping cough. Take few drops of thyme tincture and this will help to loosen and expel the mucus. Take 12g. thyme, 25g chamomile, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne or ginger (optional). Make a decoction, reduce, and add sugar or honey. Thyme also works as an antiseptic. A few drops of thyme oil (with 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup baking soda optional), in the bath, will soothe and reduce the severity of the cough. Thyme is basically calming, salt and soda detoxify.
- Sundew: Sundew is another herb with soothing effect. You can try making a tea with one to two teaspoons of dried herb per cup of boiling water. Drink once a day. Sundew had used for hundreds of years to treat bronchitis, cough, and whooping cough. Especially dry, irritating coughs in children. Modern research has validated these uses, showing that this herb has expectorant, cough suppressing and bronchial soothing properties. Sundew is very successful in treating a number of bacterial infections, and also works to relax the muscles of the breathing tubes. Make into an infusion and take by the teaspoonful, as necessary.
- Coltsfoot: A combination of coltsfoot and elecampane can prevent the infection by strengthening the body and clearing phlegm. Coltsfoot is useful to loosen the cough and hence helps to expel the mucus. Make herbal tea with 1 teaspoon coltsfoot herbal mix. Add honey to taste and to sooth sore throats. But avoid excessive use of coltsfoot as it is unsafe. It contains chemicals called hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) hence can damage the liver.
Whooping Cough Prevention Tips
If you have a child, firstly check vaccination chart. Then consult with the doctor for booster shot if needed. Caution, as there is a risk of secondary infection, in particular pneumonia and bronchitis. If the cough is accompanied by vomiting, make sure there is adequate intake of fluid to prevent dehydration. Also call your physician if your child becomes blue around the lips. Whooping cough must treated by doctor.
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