What Is Whooping Cough: What to Know and How It Spreads

Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the airways that causes long, exhausting coughing fits. So what is whooping cough like for an adult? It starts like a cold, then the cough builds and can hang on for months. Telling what is whooping cough from what is an ordinary cold matters most if you spend time with babies, because it harms them most.

Key takeaways

• Pertussis is a contagious bacterial infection of the airways, spread by coughs and sneezes, and the cough can last three months.
• It starts like a cold, then turns into fits of coughs that may end in a whoop, vomiting or exhaustion.
• Babies face the highest risk of serious illness, so vaccination in pregnancy and boosters for the adults around them matter.
• A swab test confirms it, and antibiotics help most when started in the first three weeks of the cough.
• A telehealth GP can talk through your symptoms and arrange testing; call 000 if you are struggling to breathe.

What Is Whooping Cough: A Quick Overview

Whooping cough is an infection of the breathing tubes caused by bacteria that pass from person to person in tiny droplets. When people ask a GP “what is whooping cough?”, the facts that matter are how it unfolds and when it spreads, set out below.

Adults often never whoop, so a cough lasting more than two weeks deserves a check. Complications such as pneumonia, a cracked rib or a hernia come from the force of the coughing.

Diagnosis of Whooping Cough With Swabs and Blood Tests

Diagnosis of pertussis usually rests on a swab test, because symptoms alone rarely settle the question of what is whooping cough and what is a lingering cold. Pertussis is a bacterial illness of the respiratory tract, and the symptoms doctors listen for are a cough lasting two weeks or more, fits that leave you breathless, a whoop as you breathe in, and gagging or vomiting afterwards.

A PCR test on a nose swab, which looks for the germ's genes, is most accurate in the first three weeks of the cough, and after about two weeks a blood test for pertussis antibodies can help instead. A telehealth GP cannot take the swab, but can give you a pathology request for a collection centre.

Anyone can catch it, but the people most at risk of serious illness are babies, especially those under six months, older adults and people with long-term heart or lung conditions. In children, pertussis can look different: babies may not whoop at all and can instead pause between breaths or turn blue, which needs urgent care through 000. The surest way to prevent pertussis in a newborn is to vaccinate the adults around them, starting in pregnancy.

The Bacterium That Causes Whooping Cough

The bacterium behind every case is Bordetella pertussis, which lives in the nose and throat of infected people and spreads when they cough, sneeze or talk nearby. That gives the simplest answer to the question “what is whooping cough?”: an illness caused by one germ, not a virus and not an allergy. The bacteria release toxins that damage the lining of the airways. Being vaccinated lowers your chance of catching it, but neither the vaccine nor a past infection gives lifelong protection, so adults can catch it more than once. The whooping cough vaccine is combined with protection against diphtheria and tetanus, so one injection covers all three.

How Whooping Cough Affects the Airways

Pertussis inflames the lining of the windpipe and the larger airways, and its toxins stop the tiny hairs there from sweeping mucus away. Sticky mucus builds up, and the body tries to clear it with long fits of coughing, many coughs without a breath between. At the end of a fit, air is dragged in through the narrowed voice box, and that is the high-pitched whoop the illness is named for. The effort can bring on vomiting and red marks in the whites of the eyes. Because the damaged lining takes weeks to heal, the cough lingers long after the germs have gone.

How Whooping Cough Is Treated

Pertussis is treated with a short course of antibiotics, which are only available on prescription in Australia and are prescribed once a doctor has assessed you. They help most in the first three weeks of the cough, when they stop you spreading pertussis and, started early, can make it milder; after that the germs have usually cleared, and antibiotics will not shorten the cough.

Most adults recover at home with rest, fluids, small meals if coughing brings on vomiting, and a smoke-free home. Cough mixtures do little for pertussis, which is also called the 100-day cough because it can take three months to settle. Your doctor may suggest antibiotics for the people you live with, especially a baby or someone in late pregnancy, and will say when you can return to work.

A child with pertussis, above all a baby, is treated by their own GP or in hospital, because infants can need oxygen and close monitoring. Medio sees adults only, so a child with a worrying cough should see a doctor in person.

Preventing Whooping Cough With Vaccination

Vaccination is the most effective protection against whooping cough, and in Australia it is free for babies and children on the National Immunisation Program at 2, 4 and 6 months, 18 months and 4 years, then again at 12 to 13 years through school. A free vaccine is also offered in every pregnancy, ideally between 20 and 32 weeks, so the mother's antibodies cross over and protect infants until their own doses start.

Adults who spend time with babies, such as partners, grandparents and carers, are advised to have a booster if they have not had one in the last 10 years, ideally at least two weeks before meeting the baby. The adult vaccine is called dTpa in Australia, while overseas advice, including the CDC's in the United States, calls it Tdap. Vaccinated people can still catch it, but their coughing spells are usually milder and complications are less likely.

Whooping Cough Explained in Plain Language

Put simply, whooping cough is a chest bug that starts like a cold and turns into weeks of hard coughing. It is very contagious, and one person can pass it to most of the unprotected people they live with. The bacteria travel in droplets, so covering coughs, washing hands and staying home while you are infectious all help. For most adults it is miserable rather than dangerous, but for a newborn it can be life threatening, which is why the vaccine matters for everyone around a baby.

A cough that lasts more than two weeks, comes in fits or ends in a whoop is worth raising with a GP, for example through a telehealth GP consult. Anyone struggling to breathe or turning blue needs 000 straight away, and anyone very unwell should see a doctor in person.

Summary

Whooping cough spreads easily, moves through three stages, is confirmed with a swab, is treated with antibiotics and rest, and is prevented by vaccinating those around babies. Asking a GP “what is whooping cough?” early helps, because antibiotics help most in the first three weeks. A Medio GP can talk your cough through by phone, explain what is whooping cough and what is a cold, and, where the doctor thinks it right, give a pathology request for a swab or send an eScript.

Frequently asked questions

How do you know if your cough is a whooping cough?

A cough that lasts more than two weeks, comes in fits and ends in a whoop, gagging or vomiting points towards whooping cough, but only a test can confirm it. Pertussis is diagnosed with a nose swab, or with a blood test once the cough is over two weeks old. Symptoms in a child are similar, though babies often do not whoop, and a child should see a GP in person.

Will a whooping cough go away by itself?

The cough usually settles on its own over two to three months, but you can spread it for about three weeks after it starts. Antibiotics shorten that time, so seeing a doctor early protects others, especially babies and young children, who face the highest risk.

What are the main causes of whooping cough?

Whooping cough has one cause, the pertussis bacterium, which you catch from droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks nearby. Fading protection lets it spread, because neither the vaccine nor a past bout lasts for life.

What is the best treatment for whooping cough?

The main treatment is a course of antibiotics, ideally started within the first three weeks of the cough, along with rest, fluids and small meals. Antibiotics are only available on prescription, so a doctor decides whether they suit you.

When is it too late to treat a whooping cough?

Antibiotics are most useful in the first three weeks of the cough, because after that the germs have usually gone and you are no longer infectious. Later care focuses on comfort while the airways heal, and a doctor can check for complications such as pneumonia.

What gets mistaken for a whooping cough?

Colds, flu, COVID-19, asthma, reflux and the cough that lingers after a virus can all look like it, so only a test can settle what is whooping cough and what is not. A swab or a blood test gives the answer, which a doctor can arrange.