Duration of whooping cough
The acute symptoms of whooping cough last between six and nine weeks. The individual stages can be shorter or longer. The cough can persist for up to ten weeks after the illness has subsided as a chesty cough.
Mild and severe course of whooping cough
The mild course of whooping cough disease is often seen in adults or older children. The stages are all mild and the disease is characterized by symptoms of a cold or flu. No consequential damage is to be expected, antibiotics are usually not necessary.
A normal course is often observed in small children. These are the cough attacks typical of whooping cough. However, these are usually not dangerous and subside within ten weeks.
A severe course is usually observed in infants. Here, the division into stages of the disease is often difficult to hear, which means that the disease remains undetected. Especially infants are at risk of the complication of respiratory arrest, which is why they should be referred to a pediatric clinic if whooping cough is suspected.
Course of whooping cough with antibiotics
Taking an antibiotic can shorten and alleviate the course of the disease. However, even without the administration of an antibiotic, healing is usually without consequences.
