Healthy Living

Are You Contagious? What You Need to Know Before Seeing a Provider

Dec. 2, 2024

Many common winter illnesses are contagious and easily spread from one person to another. Knowing which illnesses are contagious and how they travel makes it easier to keep your loved ones safe.

What Does It Mean to Be Contagious?

Just because you feel sick doesn’t mean you’re contagious, but it’s often a clear sign. An infectious disease is an illness that is caused by bacteria or viruses. If an infectious disease can spread from one person to another, it is considered contagious.

There are many types of infectious diseases. Some diseases can only be spread by sexual contact, and some can be transmitted via the food you eat. However, the most common contagious conditions are transmitted via airborne droplets created while coughing or sneezing, or close contact with others, such as kissing or drinking from the same water bottle.

Common Contagious Viruses

Many contagious diseases spread easily in places like classrooms or offices. If you have young children, you probably already know that your whole family can get sick quickly. Kids have weaker immune systems than adults and are more likely to get viral or bacterial infections, such as:

Three children sit at a school desk listening to a teacher.

Common cold, which causes a runny nose, coughing, and sneezing
COVID-19
Flu
Norovirus, a common cause of the “stomach flu”
Pneumonia, a respiratory infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a respiratory illness that can be severe in very young children or adults over age 60
Rotavirus, an illness that often causes diarrhea in young children
Strep throat, a bacterial infection that can cause a sore throat, fever, and other symptoms

Protect Yourself from Contagious Illnesses

It’s impossible to prevent exposure to all contagious diseases, but there are steps you can take to lower your risk of getting sick, such as:

Cleaning and sanitizing your home or contaminated surfaces at your school or office if other people have been sick
Covering your mouth with your arm when you cough or sneeze
Not sharing drinking glasses or eating utensils
Not touching your face
Staying up to date on all age-appropriate vaccines, including the latest flu shot, RSV vaccine, and COVID-19 booster
Washing your hands frequently
Wearing a mask in crowded spaces

What to Do If You Think You’re Contagious

When you have symptoms of contagious illnesses, staying at home is best to avoid spreading the disease and reduce the chance of getting others sick.

If you haven’t been to a doctor yet, here are some other signs you might be contagious:

If you have a fever of 100 degrees or higher, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends staying home until you’ve been fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications.
If you have symptoms of the flu but do not have a fever, stay home at least four days after symptoms start.
If you are vomiting or have diarrhea, stay home until 24 hours have passed with no symptoms.

Your UR Medicine provider can give you more tips to limit the spread of a virus after a visit.