1. TOPIC: LOWER TRESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION
BABCOCK UNIVERSITY
COURSE 505
TOPIC: LOWER TRESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTION

2. Whooping cough (Pertussis)- Caused by Bordetella prtussis.
Infection limited to respiratory track, highly contagious.
- Children are most at risk.
- At acute stage, patient is subjected to violent spasm of continuous coughing.

3. Followed by a long intake of air into the almost empty lung with a characteristic “whoop”.
Complications include
lung damage, convulsion and occasionally brain damage.
Permanent sequelae may include epilepsy, mental retardation, blindness or deafness.

4. Laboratory diagnosis
- Naso-pharyngeal secretion collected with pernasal swab is cultured on selective media:
i. Charcoal cephalexin blood agar (CCBA) or
ii. Bordet-Gengou medium.
Settle plate method can also be used to isolate the organism.

5. Incubate at 37C in a moist chamber for 3 – 5 days.
Identify the the pathogen.
Treatment: With specific antibiotics.
Prevention: Vaccination for infants.