Whooping Cough.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 76

Whooping Cough.

It is surprising to find low much ignoraooe exists- a* to ijhe real nature of whoops inff cough. Many people even regard it as quite a simple' disease whereas it is accountable for many deaths amongst ohil* dren which; with only a little care, might easily be prevented. In the first place whooping cough is a most infectious disease. Accordingly, no one suffering front it should be allowed to associate with healthy children. The vomited materiaKw very liable to spread the infection. The I view that this disease needs no t medical 1 treatment is as erroneous as it «• disastrous. Every child suffering from whooping cough ought to be under constant medical supervision. The risks are always great, Tojore especially, perhaps, in rickety orother- ■ wise unhealthy children. As with measles so here, chest complications are by far the most frequently en- | countered. Bronchitis and inflammation of the lunps'are liable to come on at any time during the course of the disease. Moreover, if the cough is not kept in check by suitable treatment the lungs are apt to become permanently damaged, and as a result asthma' and other serious chronic chest affections may develop in later life. The child who is suffering from whooping cough must have abundance of fresh air. He shou'd be allowed 1 to walk about outsid© hi "fine weather, and while at home ti»o windows should be kept widely ot>en by_ day anJ by night, care being taken, or course, to avoid draughts If, however, tho patient is at all feverish, as he usually is at the outset of the disease, he nrost be kept in bed. During the course of the disease the .foofl must l>e. very light and^ easily digested, as vomiting is a constant symptom of whooping cough. During «onT»!aFcence a change to the country, or perhaps better -still to the • seaside, is -very desirable. Cod liver oil with malt' will prov.i a va'uaUo tonic in such cases, and should be given to the child for several weeks' after he is quite convalescent.

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