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Is Whooping Cough Related With Enlarged Tonsils & Constant Cough?
A student at my son's school has been diagnosed with whooping cough. he has had an ongoing cough for one week, and it is persistently getting worse. He hasn't ran a fever, but his left tonsil is at least double in size as the right one. no other symptoms, except that 4/4/2011 was given amox for a sinus infection. What are the chances of this being whooping cough?
Wed, 21 Sep 2016
Hello dear,
Thank you for your question.
Whooping cough is highly contagious, especially in the first couple of weeks after the onset of cough. Schools are among the most common places where children can get the infection from their mates. I would suspect whooping cough, if your child had had cough for at least 14 days, especially if the cough is accompanied with a suffocation sensation or vomiting. A PCR testing of a nasal swab may help the diagnosis of whooping cough.
The tonsil enlargement is not typical of whooping cough, but is a possible finding.
I usually treat my patients with Erythromycin or Azythromycin. Since these are prescription based drugs, you will have to consult your pediatrician. Keep in mind that the medication will only accelerate the healing and prevent complications, but cannot stop the cough, that will last for several weeks. Your kid needs to take a break from school, since it's a highly contagious disease.
I hope this helped.
Kind regards,
Dr. Alma
Thank you for your question.
Whooping cough is highly contagious, especially in the first couple of weeks after the onset of cough. Schools are among the most common places where children can get the infection from their mates. I would suspect whooping cough, if your child had had cough for at least 14 days, especially if the cough is accompanied with a suffocation sensation or vomiting. A PCR testing of a nasal swab may help the diagnosis of whooping cough.
The tonsil enlargement is not typical of whooping cough, but is a possible finding.
I usually treat my patients with Erythromycin or Azythromycin. Since these are prescription based drugs, you will have to consult your pediatrician. Keep in mind that the medication will only accelerate the healing and prevent complications, but cannot stop the cough, that will last for several weeks. Your kid needs to take a break from school, since it's a highly contagious disease.
I hope this helped.
Kind regards,
Dr. Alma
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