100-Day Cough

摘要

Jane had a cough that just wouldn't quit. All through her pregnancy, she hacked and coughed. Nothing seemed to help. Days after delivery, her infant fell desperately ill and died. Only then did doctors make the connection between Jane's cough and Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes whooping cough. Is Jane's case a tragic anomaly? New research suggests that infection with B. pertussis is far more common in adults than previously recognized. Researchers have reported that 12 to 31 percent of adults with a persistent cough have undiagnosed pertussis.