semi-productive cough, sore throat only in morning

[qgroff]

For 2-3 weeks now I've had a persistent cough.  It's semi-productive, and the mucus is mostly of a yellowish color ranging from light to a very dark almost brown.  A friend of mine recently had Whooping Cough and my last booster was at least 7 years ago, so I thought it might be that.  But only once has the coughing led to vomiting; usually it will be a strong fit of it but will go away once I produce some phlegm.

Recently (3-4 days) I've been waking up with a very sore throat (that is not caused by a cough; it is sore at my tonsils and below my nasal passage openings) but not much of a cough.  This sore throat tends to go away as the cough returns each day--after about an hour the sore throat is gone and the occasional cough has returned.  I thought these symptoms were a bit odd, so I'm asking here!

[National Jewish Health]

The duration of your cough is consistent with the diagnosis pertussis, commonly called whooping cough.  However there are a number of other infectious agents that could cause the same picture, most importantly, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia TWAR, each of which is sensitive to antibiotic therapy.  The clinical picture, cultures and serological testing are used to diagnose these infections.