What are the treatments for whooping cough in adults?

Cold and cough are one of the most common disease symptoms in life. Because the conditions for the onset of cough are low, and in the spring and summer seasons, the virus will multiply and become prevalent. If the cold is not treated for a long time, it will cause lung infection, leading to the appearance of whooping cough symptoms, posing a great threat to physical health. Let’s take a look at some of the treatments for whooping cough in adults. I hope everyone can learn from it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment: Traditional Chinese Medicine calls whooping cough "sudden cough", "heron cough" and "epidemic cough".

Principles of syndrome differentiation and treatment:

(1) Initial cough stage (exogenous wind-heat): It is advisable to dispel wind and heat, resolve phlegm and lower qi. Commonly used ingredients of Sangju Drink include: mulberry leaves, chrysanthemum, mint, almonds, platycodon, forsythia, reed root, licorice, etc. For high fever, add gypsum, scutellaria baicalensis, and gardenia; for excessive phlegm, add gardenia jasminoides and fritillaria cirrhosa.

(2) Spasmodic cough stage (phlegm-heat blocking the lungs): It is advisable to clear away heat and resolve phlegm, and to soothe the lungs and reduce adverse reactions. Commonly used ingredients include Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang, Xie Bai San and Wen Dan Tang with modifications: ephedra, gypsum, apricot kernel, licorice, bamboo shavings, pinellia, tangerine peel, fructus aurantii, poria, mulberry bark, and rehmannia root. If the patient sweats and has severe fever, use more raw gypsum, scutellaria baicalensis, and anemarrhena asphodeloides. For those with eye bleeding, add Indigo, Imperata Root, and Scrophularia. If the phlegm is thick and sticky, add Rhizoma Dictamni and Pumice.

(3) Recovery stage (lung and spleen deficiency): It is advisable to nourish qi and yin, and strengthen the lungs and spleen. Use Ginseng and Schisandra Decoction with modifications: ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, licorice, Ophiopogon japonicus, Schisandra chinensis, etc. If the main condition is qi deficiency, add astragalus and raw oyster. If the cough is still severe, add coltsfoot flower, aster, rehmannia root, fritillaria cirrhosa, etc.

5. First aid measures

During convulsions, use drugs such as diazepam, compound chlorpromazine or phenobarbital to stop the convulsions. In case of spasmodic cough, thick sputum and suffocation due to sputum obstruction, immediately suction the sputum or perform artificial respiration.

Treatment of complications:

When combined with bronchitis or pneumonia, antibiotics should be given for treatment. For simple atelectasis, postural drainage, sputum suction, lung physiotherapy, etc. can be used. If necessary, bronchoscope can be used to remove local blocked secretions.

When combined with encephalopathy, compound chlorpromazine or phenobarbital sodium can be used for anticonvulsant treatment. If cerebral edema occurs, 20% mannitol can be used at 1g/kg intravenous injection each time, and dexamethasone can be used by intravenous drip if necessary. Immunoglobulin can be used for children with encephalopathy and can also relieve spasmodic cough. It contains high-cost antitoxin and specific immunoglobulin, with a dosage of 15ml/kg, injected intravenously, and takes effect within 72 hours.