See your GP as soon as possible if you think that you or your child may have whooping cough.
Your GP will usually be able to diagnose whooping cough by asking you about the symptoms and listening to the cough (the whooping cough is very distinctive).
Sometimes, your GP will need to confirm the diagnosis by taking a blood test to check for antibodies to the whooping cough bacterium. The HPA has made available sophisticated methods for analysing blood samples and confirming the presence of the bacterium. See the Health Protection Agency's Bordetella reference services for more information.
A whooping cough diagnosis can also be confirmed by taking a sample of mucus from the back of the throat with a swab (a small stick similar to a cotton bud) and testing this for the Bordetella pertussis bacterium. However, this method is not always accurate.
Young babies
If a young baby has suspected whooping cough, they may need to be diagnosed in hospital, where they will be given any necessary treatment. This is because the disease can be severe in babies.
