Medical Definition of Pertussis syndrome
1.
An acute, highly contagious infection of the respiratory tract, most frequently affecting young children, usually caused by Bordetella pertussis, a similar illness has been associated with infection by B. Parapertussis and B. Bronchiseptica.
It is characterised by a catarrhal stage, beginning after an incubation period of about two weeks, with slight fever, sneesing, running at the nose and a dry cough. In a week or two the paroxysmal stage begins, with the characteristic paroxysmal cough, consisting of a deep inspiration, followed by a series of quick, short coughs, continuing until the air is expelled from the lungs, the close of the paroxysm is marked by a long drawn, shrill, whooping inspiration, due to spasmodic closure of the glottis. This stage lasts three to four weeks, after which the convalescent stage begins, in which paroxysms grow less frequent and less violent and finally cease.
Synonym: whooping cough.
Origin: L. Tussis = cough
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Pertussis Syndrome
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