whooping cough shot for pregnant women

WHOOPING COUGH SHOT FOR PREGNANT WOMEN
whooping cough is pertussis
a bacterial infection kids can catch that makes them cough like crazy
its like a bad bronchitis or having an asthma flare up
its treatable with antibiotics but the cough remains even though the germ is gone
the antibiotics are erythromycin clarithromycin azithromycin

most kids in the us are vaccinated for whooping cough via the childhood vaccinations
of course a lot of kids are not vaccinated 
we get boosted as adults with our tdap shots every 5-10 years
many of us have been told that if we want to get around our newborn grandchild then we need to get our tdap booster

tdap stands for tetanus diphtheria acellular pertussis

antibiotics can be used to treat pertussis but unless its given early on it doesnt help the symptoms much
it clears the infection from the body but the cough remains sometimes for months

one of the first babies i delivered from my residency patients was a young baby who developed pertussis at around 2 weeks of age
we treated her with antibiotics but she coughed for months
at the 9 month old well child exam she was still coughing a lot
she had trouble maintaining her weight since she used so much energy coughing
she had a persistent redness to her face from all the cough
many of the patients have a whooping sound as they take their breath after a coughing episode

that patient left an impression on me

these babies are vulnerable until the time they are born until they get their dtap shot at 2 months of age
they get immunity from their moms immune system that may protect them
sometimes if the moms pertussis or whooping cough immunity is waning the baby may not get much protection

those who have waning immunity or havent been vaccinated can spread whooping cough to the infant
those infants are vulnerable until they get that first dtap shot 

now its recommended that women get a tdap shot at 27-34 weeks of pregnancy to protect their babies from getting whooping cough or pertussis
then
those around them until the babies get immunized should all be immunized with an updated tdap shot if their tdap shots arent up to date 

not much of a price to pay to get to see your grandkids
plus you wont get tetanus or diphtheria or pertussis
yes
grandparents can get pertussis
its like a bad case of bronchitis
its treated with zithromax or azithromycin or the well known zpack
like with kids it doenst clear up all your symptoms but keeps you from spreading it around to others
so
keep your tdap shots updated
moms get your tdap during your pregnancy if its recommended to you

you also need to worry about flu covid parainfluenza rsv and other respiratory infections
so
protect that new baby

the organicgreen doctor