Respiratory Disease History
1578 CE, epidemic account by Guillaume de Baillou, Paris, France
Whooping cough, known medically as pertussis, was one of the most feared childhood diseases of the pre-modern world, capable of sweeping through communities in devastating epidemics. Its distinctive sound made it recognizable to parents and physicians alike across many cultures and centuries, yet its bacterial cause remained unknown until the early 20th century. The history of whooping cough is a story of gradual scientific unraveling against a backdrop of enormous historical child mortality.
Historical Narrative
The earliest clearly recognizable descriptions of whooping cough in European medical literature date to the 16th century, though the disease was almost certainly present for far longer. French physician Guillaume de Baillou provided what is widely considered the first detailed clinical account of a whooping cough epidemic in Paris in 1578, describing the characteristic convulsive coughing fits that struck children and caused widespread deaths. He called the condition 'quinta' or 'quinte,' referring to the fits themselves, and his description was precise enough that later physicians recognized it as the same disease they encountered in subsequent centuries.
The disease spread with particular ferocity through urban populations where children lived in close proximity. Epidemics were recorded repeatedly across Europe throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, with English physician Thomas Sydenham — often called 'the English Hippocrates' — recording epidemic outbreaks in London. The English name 'whooping cough' emerged from the distinctive high-pitched sound made as a child gasped for air after a paroxysm of coughing, a sound so characteristic that it became the primary identifying feature of the disease across cultures and languages. In German it became 'Keuchhusten,' and in many languages the names similarly referenced the violent nature of the cough.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, whooping cough was understood within the dominant humoral and later vitalist frameworks of medical theory. Physicians attributed it to cold humors affecting the trachea, to atmospheric conditions, or to some ill-defined nervous irritation of the airways. Treatments across this era ranged from inhalations, syrups, and bloodletting to more unusual remedies involving passing the afflicted child under the belly of a donkey — a practice recorded in British and Irish folk medicine of the 18th and 19th centuries that persisted in rural areas long after formal medicine had moved on.
The 19th century brought more systematic epidemiological observation of whooping cough. Vital statistics offices in Britain and Europe began recording deaths from whooping cough as a specific cause, revealing the staggering mortality the disease imposed on infant and child populations. William Farr, the pioneering British statistician who developed systematic mortality record-keeping in the mid-19th century, analyzed whooping cough deaths as part of broader investigations into epidemic disease, helping to establish patterns of the disease's spread and seasonal variation.
The bacterial cause of whooping cough was identified in 1906 by Belgian bacteriologists Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou, who isolated the organism responsible — later named Bordetella pertussis in honor of Bordet. Their development of a culture medium capable of growing the fastidious bacterium was a technical achievement as significant as the discovery itself, as the organism had resisted isolation attempts by other researchers. This discovery placed whooping cough within the established framework of bacterial disease and opened the way for subsequent research into prevention.
Efforts to develop a vaccine against whooping cough began in earnest in the early 20th century, with significant work carried out by researchers including Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering in the United States during the 1930s. Their rigorously designed field trials demonstrated the effectiveness of a whole-cell pertussis vaccine, and their work was instrumental in establishing the scientific standards for vaccine testing. Whooping cough had been a near-universal childhood experience for most of recorded history; its trajectory in the 20th century stands as one of the more dramatic examples of how bacteriological science changed the pattern of infectious disease.
Key Historical Figures
Historical narrative only — this page describes how Whooping Cough was understood historically. It is not medical advice and does not describe current diagnosis or treatment. Sourced from verified medical history references (NIH, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and standard medical history texts). See our medical disclaimer.