If you have the swine flu or know someone who does, better stay home just a few more days to be safe. New research has experts saying that they believe a patient with swine flu is contagious until the coughing stops.
Up until now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been informing everyone to stay home and avoid contact with anyone until a day after their fever breaks. This brand new research indicates that they should be careful for a longer period, perhaps up to a week or more. The swine flu seems to be even more contagious than the regular seasonal flu. Gaston De Serres, a scientist at the Institute of Public Health in Quebec, says that swine flu patients are contagious for about a week.
Serres presented one of the studies on Monday during a conference at the American Society for Microbiology. It was the first large meeting of experts of disease since the arrival of the swine flu last spring; which now represents almost all the flu cases in the U.S. The CDC now deems that more than a million Americans have been infected with this flu and almost 600 have died from it.
Right now it is not certain whether this new research will cause the CDC to change its recommendations on how long those infected with swine flu should stay isolated. The CDC’s flu chief, Nancy Cox, said that long breaks from school and work do not seem worth it because the virus is causing only mild illness for the most part.
0 Responses to “Study finds swine flu is contagious days after fever ends”
Leave a Reply