Is Whooping Cough Contagious?

Transmission of Whooping Cough from Person to Person

Whooping Cough is considered to be contagious between people. Generally the infectious agent may be transmitted by saliva, air, cough, fecal-oral route, surfaces, blood, needles, blood transfusions, sexual contact, mother to fetus, etc.
Whooping Cough, although infectious, is not a genetic disease. It is not caused by a defective or abnormal gene.
The contagious disease, Whooping Cough, can be transmitted:

• from person to person by saliva, air, coughing, contact, surfaces, fecal-oral route, etc.

Transmission of Whooping Cough

Transmission of Whooping Cough to a person can be by way of:

• contaminated air.

Contagiousness properties for Whooping Cough:

  Contagious by droplet?: Yes

  Contagious from kissing?: Yes

  Contagious from saliva?: Yes

  Contagious breastfeeding mother to infant?: Yes

About contagion and contagiousness:

Contagion and contagiousness refers to how easily the spread of Whooping Cough is possible from one person to another. Other words for contagion include "infection", "infectiousness", "transmission" or "transmissability". Contagiousness has nothing to do with genetics or inheriting diseases from parents. For an overview of contagion, see Introduction to Contagion.

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