Bronchitis can you spread it

Acute bronchitis due to infection is often transmitted through microscopic, airborne droplets that contain a germ and are produced when someone speaks, sneezes, or coughs. It can also be transmitted by shaking hands or other types of physical contact with an infected person. Viruses and bacteria can also live outside of the body for minutes, hours, or even days, depending on the type.

You can catch infectious acute bronchitis by touching a germ harboring object, such as a door knob or a subway pole, and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Many cases of acute bronchitis start as the flu, so you may be able prevent it by getting an annual flu shot. Acute bronchitis caused by bacterial infections may be easily transmitted to people with compromised immune systems or chronic infections.

Elderly people and small children may also be susceptible. Acute infectious bronchitis has an incubation period of four to six days. In the hours leading up to the start of your symptoms, you may feel tired, have a headache, and have a runny nose and sore throat. The symptoms of acute bronchitis typically start to fade within one to two weeks after onset, with the exception of coughing, which may continue for several weeks.

Acute bronchitis usually resolves on its own within several weeks. If you are feeling very ill, you should check in with your doctor regardless of how long you have been sick. Your doctor will ask you questions about your health history, including if you smoke and if you had a flu shot.

They will listen to your breathing through a stethoscope and may want you to have a chest x-ray to help determine what is causing your cough. Repeated episodes of acute bronchitis may also mean you are developing chronic bronchitis and should be reported to your doctor. If your bronchitis was caused by a virus, get plenty of rest and drink fluids.

Your doctor may also recommend an over-the-counter medication to bring down your fever. Acute bronchitis is very common. Patients also can have heavy mucus or phlegm forming in the airways. People with asthma may also may have asthmatic bronchitis, an inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes.

It is much harder to recover from chronic bronchitis, and smokers are highly susceptible. Every cigarette damages the cilia, the tiny hair-like structures in the lungs that are responsible for brushing out debris, irritants and excess mucus. In some heavy smokers, the cilia eventually stop functioning since the mucus membrane lining the airways stays inflamed.

Clogged with mucus, the lungs then are vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections, which over time permanently damage the lungs airways. Chronic bronchitis is one of two main types of COPD.

The other main form is emphysema. Both conditions make it difficult to breathe. Bronchitis can be contagious, but it depends upon which kind the patient has. Typically, those with acute bronchitis can be contagious while those with the chronic form are less likely to be able to spread it to someone else.

Since these viruses are contagious, acute bronchitis usually is, too. These germs may be present in mucus that can be spread through coughing or sneezing. The symptoms and signs of bronchitis include:.

Acute bronchitis is caused by the same viruses and bacteria that cause colds and the flu. When someone is infected with either viral or bacterial acute bronchitis, they are contagious and can spread to others. The virus or bacteria causing their bronchitis can spread through talking, coughing, and sneezing, so being in close quarters with an infected person is a big danger.

It is also easily passed between people when an infected person deposits bacteria or virus on a surface by touching it. When another person comes by and touches that surface and then touches their face, the viruses or bacteria can cause an infection. Bacterial bronchitis can turn into bacterial pneumonia. The bacteria that cause bacterial bronchitis are usually the same ones that cause pneumonia: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus.

The types of viruses and bacteria that cause bronchitis will usually have been in your system from two to six days before you start feeling cold symptoms. Other symptoms may resolve, but you can develop a lingering cough. Antibiotics are not generally recommended for viral or bacterial bronchitis. In the cases where they are given appropriately, you should no longer be contagious about 24 hours after you start taking them.

To avoid catching bronchitis, stay away from sick people. Stay home and focus on feeling better. If you do have to go out, cover your mouth and nose a face mask is a good option here, too and cough or sneeze into your elbow.

Most of the time, your bronchitis should resolve on its own with time and rest. Get in touch with your healthcare provider if:. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life.

Acute bronchitis. Updated December 10, Chronic bronchitis. Updated January 3, Cleveland Clinic. Updated August 12, Microorganisms causing community-acquired acute bronchitis: the role of bacterial infection. Incubation periods of acute respiratory viral infections: a systematic review.

Lancet Infect Dis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.