Preventing Pertussis
Disease Fact Sheet
(PDF 15 KB)
Pertussis is spread when an ill person coughs while around others. The most infectious
time is at the beginning stage of the disease.
Individuals are almost never contagious after the third week of
paroxysms (fits of coughing) or after five full days of antibiotic
treatment.
Infected individuals should be excluded from work, child care, or school until
they have completed 5 days of an appropriate antibiotic, or until 21 days
after cough onset if antibiotics are not taken.
Preventing Pertussis
Adequate immunization with pertussis
(DTP/DTaP) vaccine, starting at 2
months of age, is the best protection from pertussis in young children.
A pertussis vaccine (Tdap) is also
now available for children older than 10 years
of age and adults up to 64 years of age.
All people in close contact (household members and close friends) with
an infected person should receive an
antibiotic as a preventive measure, regardless of their DTP/DTaP
immunization status.
In addition, respiratory etiquette (covering your cough or sneeze) and good hand
washing are important ways to reduce the spread of disease. |
