Pathogenicity: Causes "whooping cough", but only virulent when encapsulated; organism does not invade tissues but attaches to the cilia in the trachea and impedes their action, allowing mucus to accumulate - eventually toxic fragments of their cell wall causes loss of the ciliated cells. Starts out with symptoms resembling the common cold, then goes into prolonged sieges of coughing ("per" means thoroughly; "tussis" means cough); violence of coughing can lead to broken ribs; as mucous accumulates, patients gasp for air between coughs, leading to the characteristic "whooping" sound; this stage may last for up to 6 weeks; followed by a very long convalescent stage.
Transmission: Inhalation; highly contagious; up to 90% of non-immune contacts will become infected.
Treatment: Vaccine available - DPT; erythromycin (protein synthesis).
Bordatella pertussis
