• Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a very contagious respiratory illness.
• Treating whooping cough early with antibiotics may make the infection less serious.

• Best way to prevent whooping cough is to get vaccinated (DTaP or Tdap).
• Preventative antibiotics are also known as postexposure antimicrobial prophylaxis (PEP).
  • These are medicines given to someone who has been exposed to help prevent them from getting sick.

In healthcare settings, persons with pertussis should be placed on droplet precautions.

Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 3701-3-13 (R) states:

"Pertussis (whooping cough): a person with pertussis who is not treated with effective antimicrobial therapy shall be isolated, including exclusion from school or child care center, until three weeks after the onset of paroxysms. If effective antimicrobial therapy is given, the person shall be isolated for five days after initiation of antimicrobial therapy."

Note: The date effective antimicrobial therapy is initiated is considered day one of the five-day isolation period for persons receiving treatment.