Q I'm 52 and for the last six weeks had a vile cough, that came in spasms, much worse at night, leaving me gagging and desperately trying to suck in a breath. Lots of others in the area had it. Was it whooping cough? I was vaccinated as a child.
A Whooping cough is a bacterial infection with a germ called haemophilus pertussis. Vaccination against it is pretty efficient, so that around 80 per cent of people given it are protected for life. A few people may develop a modified whooping cough later, and you may be one of them. It does respond to appropriate anti-biotics. This doesn't sound like pertussis, however. As so many people have had it, it may be one of the upper respiratory virus infections that have spread widely through the country recently. You have a choice from hundreds in a lifetime, although only one or two attack us at any one time. If that's the case, then you just have to wait until the cough dies down. A throat swab in the first week or so of the infection might have identified it, but we still wouldn't have a specific treatment for it. Antibiotics don't help in virus infections - they are sometimes prescribed if we think that a bacterial infection has 'piggy-backed' on to them.
Q All my life - I am 60 - I have suffered badly from mosquito bites whenever we have gone on holiday to tropical destinations. Sometimes the bites have become infected and had to be lanced. My plan this year is to shower using exclusively coal tar soap, to try and make myself smell less sweet. The plan is that the astringent smell of Wright's Coal Tar soap (or Pears') will make me unattractive to the little beasts - do you think this will work? Are there other mosquito-repellent soaps on the market which do the trick, please? My husband isn't bitten - why don't they attack him?
A Sadly I don't think the soap will make much difference. The mosquitoes are attracted by the carbon dioxide in your breath, and stopping breathing is hardly the answer. Your husband is probably bitten as often as you, but doesn't react to the bites in the same way, so he doesn't feel the itch. An anti-histamine may help you - once a day - but you should always use a mosquito net wherever you are likely to be bitten. You may try bog myrtle lotion. It's useful against the Scottish midge (the bog myrtle plant manufactures it to repel the insect), but I don't know whether mosquitoes react to it in the same way. There are plenty of insect repellents, mostly containing DEET, that are claimed to work. Why not change your plans to avoid places with mosquitoes? There are plenty of them.
Q Is the noise of tinnitus increased by certain medication or foods ?
A There's no relation with diet, and the nature of tinnitus doesn't suggest that there could be. Most cases of tinnitus are caused by a raised pressure within the inner ear, and it's not easy to see how the food you eat influences that. On the other hand, some drug side effects include tinnitus, so check with your doctor that you aren't taking one that does.
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