DEAR DR. GOTT: I had a bad case of whooping cough as a child. I am now 68 years old. Is it possible to get whooping cough more than once? I have been reading of quite a few cases of it here in Montana and that has me wondering. Also, if my husband has never had whooping cough, should he have the preventive shots for it?
DEAR READER: Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious bacterial respiratory infection. During the first half of the 20th century, before the vaccine was created, pertussis was the leading cause of childhood illness and death in the US. After the vaccine became part of the normal childhood vaccinations, incidence of the disease gradually declined and hit an all-time low in the mid-1970s. [Read more...]