# Whooping cough (pertussis) in young infants Condition · id `maternal:infant-pertussis` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: Whooping cough; Pertussis Browse, life stage: Newborn; Infant follow-up Browse, care area: The baby's first year ## In plain language Whooping cough is a very contagious infection that causes coughing fits. It can be especially serious in babies who have not had the vaccine. In babies the early signs can be different: they may cough only a little or not at all, and may stop breathing for a short time. Vaccines are the best way to prevent it. ## Technical summary MedlinePlus descriptions (public domain). The page records that about half of babies under age one who get whooping cough need care in the hospital, without a source for the figure. Maternal Tdap in pregnancy is the intervention with evidence on this atlas (a US case-control evaluation in infants younger than 2 months). ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Babies at risk of whooping cough (MedlinePlus summary) Recipient: Child; Population: Babies who have not yet had the whooping cough vaccine, and babies under one year of age who get whooping cough, as the MedlinePlus topic words them.; Care setting: Home and hospital care; the page mentions hospital care for about half of babies under one year who get whooping cough.; Geography: Not stated (US government health information site); Life stage: Babies under one year of age; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) ### MedlinePlus says whooping cough is very contagious and can be especially serious in babies who have not yet had the vaccine, and that about half of babies under age one who get whooping cough need care in the hospital. It says the early symptoms in babies can be different: they may only cough a little or not at all, and may have apnea, a pause in breathing. Vaccines are the best way to prevent whooping cough; the two vaccines named for the United States are DTaP and Tdap. - Category: Burden - Evidence stage: Evidence stage not applicable - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Babies who have not yet had the whooping cough vaccine, and babies under one year of age who get whooping cough, as the MedlinePlus topic words them.; Care setting: Home and hospital care; the page mentions hospital care for about half of babies under one year who get whooping cough.; Geography: Not stated (US government health information site); Life stage: Babies under one year of age; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (health topic summary) - Limitations: A plain-language summary. The page gives no source for the hospital figure and no vaccine schedule. Tdap in pregnancy is on its own page. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, What is whooping cough?, paragraph 2, sentences 1 and 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 2. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, What is whooping cough?, paragraph 2, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 3. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, What are the symptoms?, paragraph 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 4. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, What are the symptoms?, paragraph 3, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 5. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Can whooping cough be prevented?, paragraph 1, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. 6. Supports: Whooping Cough (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition The health topic page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date.) Locator: Summary, Can whooping cough be prevented?, paragraph 1, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 4e9f8b121a43b498fb61420c5e8e1e4cab021753a1474a43d2c0999f8e1cc84f. How it applies: MedlinePlus health topic summary. ## Connected pages - Vaccine-preventable: Vaccines in infancy and pregnancy (`maternal:infant-immunization`) - Filed under this front: Medicines and vaccines (`maternal:front-medicines-and-vaccines`) - Evaluated for this: Tdap vaccination in pregnancy to protect the infant from whooping cough (`maternal:maternal-tdap-vaccination`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-maternal-tdap-ve-infants-under-2-months` and its context] ## Provenance Content hash: 5355fed519fda5df6d96e87ecdd488bddf4bdd824fb724c71a056b325cadd5ba Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15