Letter to the Editor: Whooping cough is horrific and terrifying for children

When I first moved to Vashon about 15 years ago, I visited a friend whose three children were infected with whooping cough. In last week’s Beachcomber editorial, Leslie Brown briefly describes the symptoms of whooping cough. Having witnessed this disease first hand, I am writing to describe the symptoms in more detail.

April 5, 2011 2:01 pm

When I first moved to Vashon about 15 years ago, I visited a friend whose three children were infected with whooping cough. In last week’s Beachcomber editorial, Leslie Brown briefly describes the symptoms of whooping cough. Having witnessed this disease first hand, I am writing to describe the symptoms in more detail.

The children were miserable. They would cough, cough, cough, cough – out breath, out breath, out breath, out breath – sometimes vomiting from the force of the coughing, before being able to breathe in again. It was terrifying for them. One of the kids, a 12-year-old girl, approached me with tears in her eyes after a coughing fit and said, “Help me. I think I’m going to die.” Her parents and I were powerless to help.

I’ve vaccinated my son against pertussis because I don’t want him, or any other child for that matter, to go through this preventable experience.

 

— Wendy Finkleman