Whooping cough animation | Bordetella pertussis | 100-day cough | Pertussis animation

The goal for this short sequence was to witness a “moment in time” where the conditions of whooping cough is present and we watch a cough occur deep inside the respiratory tract.
​Pertussis - also known as whooping cough or 100-day cough - is a highly contagious bacterial disease, and caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis.
As we arrive on the scene, we can see that Bordetella pertussis has already infected its host by colonizing on the lung epithelial cells, and the micro landscape is covered in mucus and “debris.” Now anchored, the bacterium produces a cytotoxin, which stops the cilia from beating - its essential role. Because the cilia can no longer clear debris from the lungs, the body responds by sending the host into a coughing fit. These coughs expel the B. pertussis into the air, possibly infecting more hosts.
This moment in time allows us to witness the results of whooping cough: damaged, “paralyzed” cilia, displaced cells, mucus, and debris, and the bacterium responsible.
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