contagious or not?
 

My friend started feeling sick on thursday, and picked it up from her boss at work. She still has the following symptoms: "Stuffy/congested head. Difficulty breathing. General fatigue/acheyness/soreness. Sleeping a lot. Coughing."

Assuming this is just a standard bug, is it likely that she will be contagious tomorrow?

Re: contagious or not?
 

I guess? diseases are around you all the time..just being around a sick person increases the risk of catching it.

Is your friend your girlfriend [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: contagious or not?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I guess? diseases are around you all the time..just being around a sick person increases the risk of catching it.

Is your friend your girlfriend [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought the answer was that she was probably not contagious, because the bug is typically on it's way out by the time someone is displaying symptoms. Symptoms are not the sickness itself, but rather your body's way of dealing with whatever it afflicting it.

Re: contagious or not?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I guess? diseases are around you all the time..just being around a sick person increases the risk of catching it.

Is your friend your girlfriend [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought the answer was that she was probably not contagious, because the bug is typically on it's way out by the time someone is displaying symptoms. Symptoms are not the sickness itself, but rather your body's way of dealing with whatever it afflicting it.

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don't the symptoms help spread the disease? sneezing, coughing.

I'd imagine that the disease isn't it's strongest when you show symptoms, but you still got it.

Re: contagious or not?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I guess? diseases are around you all the time..just being around a sick person increases the risk of catching it.

Is your friend your girlfriend [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought the answer was that she was probably not contagious, because the bug is typically on it's way out by the time someone is displaying symptoms. Symptoms are not the sickness itself, but rather your body's way of dealing with whatever it afflicting it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't near what im studying, but from my basic biology course the "symptoms" of being sick is basically the body doing anything it can to remove or eliminate bacteria. Coughing and sneezing clears bacteria from the air ways (as mucus secretion also helps kill bacteria). Inflammation comes from bacteria either infecting new cells and/or the increase in antibodies at the sites of infection causing pressure on the nerves their.

hopefully somebody more knowledgeable can answer this better...i'm pretty sure my answer sucks. Just don't go getting close with your "friend", that will increase your risk of getting sick too

Re: contagious or not?
 

[ QUOTE ]
This isn't near what im studying, but from my basic biology course the "symptoms" of being sick is basically the body doing anything it can to remove or eliminate bacteria. Coughing and sneezing clears bacteria from the air ways (as mucus secretion also helps kill bacteria). Inflammation comes from bacteria either infecting new cells and/or the increase in antibodies at the sites of infection causing pressure on the nerves their.

hopefully somebody more knowledgeable can answer this better...i'm pretty sure my answer sucks. Just don't go getting close with your "friend", that will increase your risk of getting sick too

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funny enough, i've taken a course in immunulogy but i don't think we ever said how long you stay contagious.

you're about half right. some symptoms are your body trying to fight off the infection, some are directly caused. (cough, fever = body caused, diarreah = bacteria caused, that type of stuff). but generally, symptoms don't get noticeable for a couple days after you get sick.

making an educated guess, she's probably gonna be contagious tomorrow. I don't really know when people have symptoms but aren't contagious. Guessing, i'd think that only happens when only certain symptoms are left and they're tapering off, because at that point the level of bacteria/etc in your body is low enough that nobody will catch it but your body isn't quite finished eliminating or recovering from it yet.