Diagnosis
Whooping cough is diagnosed from clinical features and bacterial culture using a throat swab.
Diagnosis of whooping cough is difficult in the catarrhal stage when the disease is most infectious. The bacteria should be identified during the first three weeks of illness. The standard diagnostic procedures include:
- Culture of Bacteria: Nose and throat swabs are obtained and tested in the laboratory for bacteria. The swabs used for B.pertussis are usually made of dacron or rayon as they do not inhibit the B.pertussis bacteria unlike the cotton or calcium-alginate swabs.
- Increased number of white blood cells is common in a well-established case of infection.
- The clinical features especially the development of the whoop in the paroxysmal stage helps in clinching the diagnosis.
- X-ray chest also helps in the diagnosis of whooping cough.
