Enquire within upon everything by Robert Kemp Philp

958. Whooping-Cough.

This disease is sometimes of long duration, for if it shows itself in the autumn or winter months, the little patient will frequently retain the cough until May or even June, when it disappears with the return of warmer weather. Change of air when practicable is desirable, especially when the cough has been of long continuance. In this cough there are three stages. In the first the symptoms are those of an ordinary cold in the head and cough. In the second the cough becomes hard, dry and rapid, and the inhalation of the air, after or during the paroxysm of coughing produces the peculiar sound from which the disease is named. In the final stage the cough occurs at longer intervals, and the paroxysms are less violent and ultimately disappear. In this stage the disease is subject to fluctuation, the cough again increasing in frequency of occurrence and intensity if the patient has been unduly exposed to cold or damp, or if the weather is very changeable. Children suffering from whooping-cough should have a light nourishing diet and only go out when the weather is mild and warm. _Medicines_. Aconitum napellus in the very commencement of the disorder, followed by Ipecacuanha and Nux vomica when the second stage is just approaching and during its continuance. These medicines may be continued if necessary during the third stage.