What You Should Know About. Pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, is a serious contagious disease, which often requires hospitalization. It is caused by a bacterium. It most often attacks the upper respiratory tract after entering the nose or throat.
Pertussis can lead to pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and sometimes death.
Persons of any age can get pertussis, however, young infants are at greatest danger of getting the disease and suffer the most serious complications. In the past, most cases occurred in children less than 5 years of age. Recently, more cases are also being reported among adolescents and adults. Pertussis most often affects persons without any pertussis vaccination, those persons with incomplete vaccinations, and those older persons who were previously immunized as children. Transmission occurs from person to person when germs pass from an infected person into the nose or throat of others.