Pertussis or whooping cough is a bacterial respiratory disease marked by a runny nose for a week or two followed by a severe persistent cough.  In adults it rarely causes severe illness, and usually resolves even without treatment, but in infants the disease can be life-threatening. California is currently experiencing a whooping cough epidemic.  Over 4,000 cases have been reported this year, the most since 1955.  Nine have died, all babies.  Three quarters of the patients that required hospita...