For the first time since 2007, a fatality related to whooping cough was announced in Orange County, California, this week. Health officials released a statement offering their condolences but withheld specific details about the infant’s death. Whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial disease, is characterized by convulsive coughs followed by a “whooping” sound.
More than 94 percent of kindergarten children have had four to five whooping cough, aka, pertussis, vaccines, but despite this high coverage, whooping cough cases continue to break out and rise in number across the country. In an effort to combat these outbreaks, health officials have continued the same old mantra: Get vaccinated and revaccinated and vaccinated again.
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But the recent reemergence of whooping cough brings into question the effectiveness of the vaccine. Research suggests whooping cough vaccines fail to provide adequate protection against infection and the transmission of infection. One recent study confirms that the vaccine does not work as expected, and that the continued circulation of the disease can be traced back to the vaccine itself.
Infant deaths associated with pertussis infection are currently at a 70-year high, despite the fact that uptake of pertussis vaccines is higher than ever. Vaccine refusal was one hypothesis considered as a cause behind the resurgence of whooping cough that was ultimately discounted by the study’s authors. They agreed that the reemergence cannot be blamed on parents who opt not to vaccinate their children.
Whooping cough can be serious, especially for newborns and babies whose small airways can become clogged with the sticky mucus produced by the toxins in B. pertussis bacteria. But the vast majority of children and adults that contract whooping cough can get through it without complications, by maintaining proper nutrition, hydration and rest to support the healing process. Natural remedies for whooping cough include:
• Avoiding mucus-forming foods such as milk, flour and eggs, as well as sugar
• Eating light foods such as vegetables, soups with garlic and herbal teas
• Keeping well-hydrated
• Taking up to 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily for seven days
• Keeping your room and home well-ventilated and free of smoke
• Using a warm air humidifier with essential oils — Try basil, Cyprus, majoram, thyme, wintergreen, tea tree, camphor, lavender, chamomile, peppermint or eucalyptus
Other remedies that might help include wild cherry bark lozenges, acupuncture, fresh ginger root and steam inhalation.