The Ministry of Health enquires about MY health

I wrote a few weeks ago that I received the results of the blood test for Pertussis (whooping cough) which I did on Sunday. Here are the results

Test	value
Bord.Pertussis IgG	64 IU/ml
Bord.Pertussis IgA	Positive
Bord.Pertussis IgM	Negative

What does this mean? I haven't been able to find a suitable reference which explains the above in clear and simple English, but as far as I can gather, the IgA level means that I definitely had pertussis. My doctor may order a repeat test in another week or so; the Ministry of Health might also be interested in these results.

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Today I got that phone call from the public health department of the Ministry of Health (well, they actually called my home phone number a few days ago and left a message; I returned their call today) who, as I imagined, contact everyone with a positive Pertussis result. The above results show that there are some remaining antibodies from my original vaccination (that's the IgG level which is on the low side) and that I have new antibodies (that's the IgA test - positive means that I did have pertussis). The lady on the other side of the phone didn't explain exactly what the IgM test is, but pointed out that some doctors refer to this as the deciding factor, whereas the MOH had issued an instruction three years ago that the IgA test was the most important.

This might explain why I received a note from the clinic saying that I didn't have pertussis - my doctor presumably was reporting the IgM test and not the IgA test.

The lady from the department of public health talked me through my symptoms, which of course match those of pertussis. She asked whether I had been abroad and I told her about Croatia. She also asked about other family members, but none of them were affected. Obviously the disease has run its course, but I still have the occasional severe coughing attack (the last one was exactly one week ago whilst sitting in my office and working on the computer); the lady advised me to keep my throat moist. I've been going to sleep with a Strepsil in my mouth for the past ten nights; the only night which I missed was the night I had an attack.

My voice is coming back to its former strength but it's still not there, and prolonged talking causes my mouth to dry which then causes the gag reflex to kick in which then causes me to cough. Fortunately, I don't generally talk that much at work (I communicate primarily by writing) but it's a problem when I attend meetings or give training sessions. I might even be able to resume singing soon.