If you are concerned about your child, here are seven facts you need to know:

1. Monitor your child for cough, particularly if it is occurring in severe spells or they cough so hard that they vomit. The characteristic whoop of whooping cough occurs when the child is inhaling after their cough.

2. Older children and teenagers may have severe cough but usually do not have the whoop. Infants are very susceptible to pertussis and have an increased risk of hospitalization and death.

3. Be aware that the vaccination for whooping cough is not perfect. Even if your child is vaccinated, you should be on the lookout for symptoms, particularly if you live in the Grapevine-Colleyville area or know that your child has been exposed.

4. If you are concerned your child might have whooping cough, your doctor can run a test and start treatment with an appropriate antibiotic. (Even with treatment, the cough can last several weeks.)

5. Students who are diagnosed with pertussis should remain home until they have completed five days of antibiotics or until 21 days have passed since their cough started.

6. Those who live in the house of persons diagnosed with pertussis should receive treatment to prevent the infection as soon as the infection is confirmed.

7. Other close contacts (not in the house) that should receive treatment for exposure include: those at high risk for pertussis (infants and pregnant women in the third trimester), those with health conditions that put them at more risk (severe asthma or immunodeficiency), contacts of a case that have contact with a child less than 1 year of age and contacts who work in high risk settings (NICUs, childcare and maternity wards.)

If you have further questions, please contact your pediatrician.

Related articles:

• Let's Learn About Whooping Cough
• Measles, Pertussis Increase due to 'intentionally unvaccinated'
• 3 Reasons to Still Give Your Kids Whooping Cough Vaccine
• Newborns Depend On Rest of the Family To Protect Them From Whooping Cough

Why did the cookie go to the doctor? He felt a little crummy.

Why is diarrhea inherited? It runs in the jeans.

When it comes to jokes, Eric Hopkins’, M.D., has got a million of ‘em. As his patients in his Grapevine office can tell you. He is always prepared with a joke as he walks into a patient’s room. So, it only makes sense that we celebrate “World Smile Day” with one of our funniest doctors.

“The kids love it. I’ll walk in the room and the kids, sometimes the parents too, will say, ‘Time for the joke of the day.’” Dr. Hopkins said. “We all enjoy laughter. It makes you happy and makes you feel better.”

There’s a method to Dr. Hopkins’ particular brand of comedy. Kids go to the doctor and they are nervous. He hopes to ease a children’s mind and stress level when they go see him. Then next time that mom and dad say it’s time to go to the doctor, they may actually look forward to it. At least, more than if they weren’t guaranteed a joke or two.

Of course, every good comedian knows how to read the room and Dr. Hopkins is no exception. If the situation is serious, he’s not going to walk into the room and begin cracking wise.

He also knows when to quit. If a too-cool-for-school teen doesn’t laugh, Dr. Hopkins will move on. Ok, he may give it a second or third chance to make the teen at least crack a smile. And he’s not opposed to acting out the joke or using funny accents. Whatever it takes. But then, he moves on.

However, there have been times where a situation that seemed grim was made light. He recently met with a kid who was going through a rough time emotionally. By the end of the session, she was laughing and giving Dr. Hopkins a hug of thanks.

Dr. Hopkins gets his jokes from a stack of joke books and now from parents and kids telling him their jokes. He said recently a child told him he’d been coming to see him too long because he knew the punchlines.

“I’ve always loved jokes,” Dr. Hopkins said. “I think laughter inspires you. You feed off it. It might change a child’s mind who otherwise wouldn’t want to go to the doctor. It opens the door for those children and they may even be a happy to come. Laughter offers a balance in a place where we may see a lot of illness and at times even sadness.”

And that’s no joke.

But this is:

What kind of illness do martial artists get? Kung Flu!!