“Is my bronchitis still contagious?”
I have had bronchitis for over one month. Two weeks ago I was put on antibiotics. It has cleared up my congestion and coughing a bit, but I am still spitting up some green mucus. If I am on antibiotics, am I still contagious?
9 Answers
Per most authorities, you should not be contagious. That said, the previous statement is assuming the correct antibiotic is on board. It sounds like the antibiotic was off target and therefore it was your own immune system was, is fighting back. Given your symptoms, I would say you are still contagious.
Bronchitis itself is never contagious. Sometimes bronchitis can be triggered by a viral infection or a bacterial infection. Viral infections are no longer infections after just a few day and bacterial would depend on wether infection persists. You may wish to see your doctor if symptoms persist.
At times, doctors have to send throat culture or sputum culture to the lab to check which antibiotics are sensitive, especially in cases that have been on and off the antibiotics. Coughing spells can be from smoking too.
No if you have complete the correct antibiotics for acute bronchitis, then you should no longer be contagious. Cough can persist up to 1 month and will eventually resolve.
You are not contagious anymore as long as you took the antibiotics and are feeling better overall. Coughing can persist for a long time, even with mucous production. You should take a cough suppressant to break the cough cycle and drink a lot of water. The more you cough the more your bronchi will get inflamed and that in turn produces more cough. It can go on for weeks. A sign of continued infection would be fever, shortness of breath, chest pain and generally feeling worse without energy or ability to exert yourself physically. At that point you would need to call your doctor again.
Usually after 24 hours of antibiotics, infections are not contagious anymore. Make sure you go to the doctor, if this does not completely resolve in 1 more week.
Depends on the kind of bronchitis. U should get chest X-ray done too. U have to make sure you don't have pneumonia. Usually after 24 hours of antibiotics, you are not contagious if it is a bacterial pneumonia or bronchitis.
there used to be a dictum that if you had chest symptoms that long, then you should have a chest x-ray to make sure there is no other entity.
And probably a sputum quali test should be done for most likely you are contagious, and maybe to a different infection or drug resistant infection.
NO
