Signs and Symptoms

Early Symptoms

The disease usually starts with cold-like symptoms and maybe a mild cough or fever. In babies, the cough can be minimal or not even there. Babies may have a symptom known as “apnea.” Apnea is a pause in the child’s breathing pattern. Pertussis is most dangerous for babies. About half of babies younger than 1 year who get the disease need care in the hospital. Learn more about pertussis complications.

In those who have gotten the pertussis vaccine:

In most cases, the cough won’t last as many days
Coughing fits, whooping, and vomiting after coughing fits occur less often
The percentage of children with apnea (long pause in breathing), cyanosis (blue/purplish skin coloration due to lack of oxygen) and vomiting is less

Early symptoms can last for 1 to 2 weeks and usually include:

Runny nose
Low-grade fever (generally minimal throughout the course of the disease)
Mild, occasional cough
Apnea – a pause in breathing (in babies)

Pertussis in its early stages appears to be nothing more than the common cold. Therefore, healthcare professionals often do not suspect or diagnose it until the more severe symptoms appear.

Later-stage Symptoms

After 1 to 2 weeks and as the disease progresses, the traditional symptoms of pertussis may appear and include:

Paroxysms (fits) of many, rapid coughs followed by a high-pitched “whoop” sound
Vomiting (throwing up) during or after coughing fits
Exhaustion (very tired) after coughing fits

Pertussis in Babies

It is important to know that many babies with pertussis don’t cough at all. Instead it causes them to stop breathing and turn blue.

Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from your lungs. When there is no more air in the lungs, you are forced to inhale with a loud “whooping” sound. This extreme coughing can cause you to throw up and be very tired. Although you are often exhausted after a coughing fit, you usually appear fairly well in-between. Coughing fits generally become more common and bad as the illness continues, and can occur more often at night. The coughing fits can go on for up to 10 weeks or more. In China, pertussis is known as the “100 day cough.”

The “whoop” is often not there if you have milder (less serious) disease. The infection is generally milder in teens and adults, especially those who have gotten the pertussis vaccine.

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Recovery

Recovery from pertussis can happen slowly. The cough becomes milder and less common. However, coughing fits can return with other respiratory infections for many months after the pertussis infection started.