What should you know about diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus?

Diphtheria can affect the throat and may make breathing difficult. Whooping cough, also called pertussis, causes repeated bouts of coughing and can be especially severe in babies. Tetanus develops when bacteria enter a wound and produce a toxin that causes painful muscle stiffness. These illnesses are different, but protection is commonly addressed through combination vaccines.

Vaccination lowers the chance of illness, but no vaccine replaces assessment when a person has worrying symptoms. A persistent or severe cough deserves attention, particularly after contact with someone who has whooping cough.

Check your vaccination record and ask a clinician whether your protection is up to date for your age, pregnancy status, travel plans or wound history. Do not share antibiotics or delay care while waiting for a vaccine appointment. If whooping cough is suspected, limit close contact with babies and other vulnerable people until a clinician explains when it is safe to mix with others. Rest, fluids and avoiding smoke may ease coughing while you arrange advice.

Seek urgent help for difficult breathing, blue or grey lips, inability to swallow, severe weakness, a seizure, or sudden muscle stiffness after a wound. Contact a clinician promptly for coughing fits, vomiting after coughing, a cough in a young baby, fever with worsening illness, or any deep, dirty or puncture wound when tetanus protection is uncertain.

Ask which vaccine doses or boosters you need, whether a recent wound changes the plan, how to protect a newborn from whooping cough, and whether symptoms call for testing or antibiotic treatment.