RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Could this be whooping cough? JF Emergency Medicine Journal JO Emerg Med J FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and the British Association for Accident & Emergency Medicine SP 639 OP 642 DO 10.1136/emermed-2018-207792 VO 35 IS 10 A1 Patrick Nee A1 Elaine Weir A1 Madhur Vardhan A1 Ankita Vaidya YR 2018 UL http://emj.bmj.com/content/35/10/639.abstract AB Whooping cough is a notifiable bacterial respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis. It may produce serious disease, especially in immunocompromised individuals and very young children. The number of reported cases increases in the winter months and the incidence peaks every 4–5 years. However, this periodicity is variable and is inconsistent between different geographical regions. Bordetella pertussis infection (BPI) may be underdiagnosed because of its seasonality and the fact that clinical features may be indistinguishable from other respiratory disorders in the paediatric ED setting. Treatment with antibiotics reduces the period of infectivity but may not shorten the illness. This review discusses the epidemiology of the disease, its clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and the disposition of patients with BPI.