If you have symptoms of respiratory infection, including cough and fever, it's best to assume you are contagious, and you should stay at home, away from others. Show Everything from the common cold to the flu as well as COVID-19 are contagious and can be spread from one person to another. Symptoms that should cause you to stay home instead of visiting with family and friends, or working, include:
If you have severe symptoms, including difficulty breathing, you should visit the Emergency Department. Call ahead to ensure health care staff can prepare for your arrival. How to Prevent IllnessTo prevent infection, you should wash your hands often and avoid touching surfaces and your face. In addition to those commonsense hygiene practices, you should also eat well, stay hydrated and get sufficient rest. These are all things that help keep your body healthy. When you’re sitting in close proximity to others for 12 hours, you’re more likely to be exposed to respiratory droplets. It’s really limited to the seats around you, not the whole plane. I sat next to somebody with a cold, and I was as careful as I could be — washing my hands, using hand sanitizer. After a 10-hour flight I was sure I was going get a cold — and I did. 12. In what way is having kids like flying on a plane? The majority of people get colds and flu from being in close proximity to someone with an active cold, who’s sneezing and coughing. That’s why with young kids in a family, the cold goes through the whole family. Also, kids are viral factories: They often have viral loads that are higher than adults. They often don’t cover their nose and mouth, don’t have good hand hygiene, they hang out together at daycare and school. They’re the starting and ending place for lots of respiratory viruses during the cold season. We see the season happening in kids first. 13. How can you tell if you’ve got a cold or the flu? Runny nose, sore throat, fever, sneezing, cough and muscle pain are common symptoms seen in a whole host of viral infections. But influenza is different from a bad cold. It often includes a fever and a feeling of malaise or muscle pains. You feel really wiped out. If you are concerned, see your doctor for a quick test to see if you have flu or if it’s beneficial to get treated. Certainly, if you are a cancer patient, see your doctor even if you have minor symptoms. 14. What about the ‘stomach flu?’ That’s not influenza. Really young kids can get nausea and vomiting with influenza, but there are always respiratory symptoms. When you hear “stomach flu,” nausea and vomiting, think Norovirus. It is very contagious so oftentimes it will run through the whole family. 15. Any idea what kind of flu season it’s going to be this year? Sporadic cases have been seen, but it is not really spreading dramatically in the U.S. yet. It usually starts on the East Coast and moves West. Getting your flu shot now is ideal because you need two weeks to develop a full immune response. 16. So it’s a good idea to get a flu vaccine? It is the best way to protect yourself from getting the flu. It isn’t perfect but it can often cut your chances of getting influenza by about 50 percent (depending on the season). Unfortunately, we don’t have vaccines for other respiratory viruses. But I get my flu shot every year, as do all the physicians at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance — we all know how important getting the vaccine is to protecting our families, our friends and our patients. SCCA and Fred Hutch provide free flu vaccine for our staff. In addition, we provide vaccine for patients and give it free to family members and caregivers when they come with patients to the clinic. 17. What about the high-dose vaccine? A high-dose flu vaccine has been shown in studies to provide better protection for people 65 years and older. I recommended it to my own parents — who both get vaccinated. The one down side is it only covers three strains of influenza while the normal vaccine covers four. Future studies should help us better understand whether high-dose vaccine is beneficial for cancer patients. 18. Why did the CDC stop recommending flu mist for children? The flu mist, or live-attenuated flu vaccine, is a weakened form of the influenza virus that can be given through the nose. It was thought to work well in kids, but recent data suggests that it may not provide enough immune response to some strains of influenza. The CDC does not recommend it as an option for vaccination this year. The only option is the flu shot. 19. Can you get the flu from the flu vaccine? Absolutely not. The vaccine has components of the inactivated virus, but it’s not the virus. Minor side effects can be a little aching or arm swelling, but it lasts a day or two at most. As one of the most utilized vaccines in the world, it has one of best safety profiles of anything we do in healthcare. 20. What about claims that vaccines are linked to autism? This has been well studied and there are no links. We need to move away from blaming vaccines for a very serious disorder when science has, again and again, shown this not to be the case. Unfortunately, many still believe this discredited link. As for Guillain-Barre syndrome (a rare neurologic illness), you are more likely to get it if you get the flu than if you get the vaccine. Vaccines are well studied and very safe. I get mine every year and so does everyone in my family. 21. Does drinking orange juice or taking vitamin C help prevent colds and flu? What about Airborne products or zinc? There’s not great data. Is it vitamin C that provides the benefit or drinking lot of orange juice? Probably the liquids. Eating healthy foods and getting lots of rest are important, however. 22. Is there any treatment for a cold or flu? If you have influenza, there’s Tamiflu, or oseltamivir [prescription antiretroviral drugs]. We don’t recommend them for everyone but we do suggest them for people with chronic health conditions, cancer or for a transplant patient at risk for complications. I prefer that you never need medications — get the vaccine instead. For most other respiratory viruses, there are no treatments, so prevention and limiting transmission are key. 23. Is there anything you can do to treat a cold? The best things you can do are rest and get adequate fluids. Take it easy, don’t exert yourself. Cover your coughs and sneezing. And stay home so you limit exposing others to the infection. 24. What about chicken soup? If nothing else, it provides a variety of nutritional benefits, a fair amount of liquids, and it can be very soothing to take something warm. I know I love it when I feel sick — along with ginger ale. It reminds me of when I was a kid. There are no downsides to it. Until when is a cough contagious?In general, you are contagious a few days before your symptoms start until all your symptoms are gone. Most people are contagious about two weeks. For some people, colds can last longer.
Is a person contagious when coughing?Is a Cough Contagious? While a cough itself isn't contagious, the germs that a cough spreads may be. Whether visible or not, each time someone coughs, very small particles are spread into the air. Sometimes these particles spread just a few inches, sometimes several feet.
What kind of cough is contagious?Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection. In many people, it's marked by a severe hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like "whoop." Before the vaccine was developed, whooping cough was considered a childhood disease.
Are dry coughs contagious?Yes, depending on the cause, a dry cough can be contagious. Dry coughs can be due to post-nasal drip, or mucus dripping from the back of the nose into the throat. Additionally, a dry cough can also be due to smoking (smoker's cough). Certain allergies can also lead to a dry cough.
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Am i contagious if i have a cough
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