The main treatment is plenty of rest and fluids. Oxygen, medicine to help the patient breathe, and mild sedatives are sometimes needed to help control severe coughing spells. Antibiotics can make the disease milder if they are started early enough. Anyone who has been exposed to pertussis should see a doctor for antibiotics to prevent the disease, even if they were vaccinated. For children younger than 7 years old, vaccination is the best way to protect against pertussis.
Pertussis vaccine is given with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines in the same shot.
Both kinds of shots work very well to prevent all three diseases. Right now, there aren t any vaccines against pertussis for people 7 years old or older. In the future, we hope there will be pertussis for older children and adults. As with any medicine, there are very small risks of a child having a serious health problem after getting a DTP or DTaP shot. But the risk of harm from the vaccine is much lower than the risk of harm from pertussis, which is now very common in teens and adults.