Am I Too Sick or Contagious to Go to Work?

Overview

Your head’s stuffed up, your throat’s sore, and your body aches like you were run over by a truck. You feel miserable enough to stay home, but you worry that work demands don’t give you the luxury.

Before you pack up your tissues and head into the office, consider your co-workers who’d rather not share your germs.

Sneezing,fever, and a hackingcoughare all signs that you could be contagious. Even if you feel all right, your symptoms — or lack thereof — could be deceiving. Even with mild illnesses, you can spread germs, too.

Here’s how to tell whether you’re contagious and if you need to stay home.

Am I contagious?

Each time you sneeze or cough due to arespiratory infection, you release germ-filled droplets into the air. Those bacteria- or virus-filled particles can fly up to 6 feet — making anyone near you a target.

You also spread bacteria and viruses when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth and then touch surfaces with those germy fingers. Certain cold and flu germs can survive on surfaces such as countertops, doorknobs, and phones for up to24 hours.

In general, here’s how long you’re contagious with these common illnesses:

You might still be contagious when you go back to work or school. To protect people around you, take the following steps:

• wash your hands often with warm water and soap
• warn others that you’ve been sick so they can remember to wash their hands, too
• sneeze or cough into your elbow, not your hands
• consider wearing a respiratory mask

When to stay home

When deciding whether to stay home, consider your symptoms. If you have a mild tickle in your throat or astuffy nose, you should be able to go to work. Allergy symptoms also don’t need to keep you from work. They’re not contagious.

If you’re really coughing and sneezing or you feel generally miserable, stay home. Also, avoid the office if you’revomitingor havediarrhea.

Get plenty of rest, drink lots of fluids, and wait for your symptoms to subside. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends staying home for 24 hours after a fever and other flu-like symptoms (chills, sweating, flushed skin) have cleared up.

Treatment for your flu or cold

Your doctor may recommend several treatments for your illness. It’s important to consider when these treatments may be helpful and their potential side effects.

Flu

Thefluis a viral infection caused by the influenza virus that targets your head and chest.

You’ll have symptoms such as a cough,sore throat, and runny nose. Your body will hurt, you’ll be tired, and you might run a fever over 100°F (37.8°C). People often feel theachinessandfatiguefirst, before their respiratory symptoms develop.

Since they kill bacteria rather than viruses, antibiotics won’t treat the flu. Rest, fluids, and over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers such asacetaminophen(Tylenol) oribuprofen(Advil, Motrin) may help you manage your symptoms.

To relieve your symptoms faster, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral drug such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu), peramivir (Rapivab), zanamivir (Relenza), or baloxavir (Xofluza). For the medication to work, it’s best to start taking it within48 hoursof your symptoms starting.

You should consider taking antiviral drugs even after 48 hours if you’re in regular contact with people who are at high risk, including

• young children
• people over the age of 65
• women who are pregnant or less than two weeks postpartum
• people with weakened immune systems from other medical conditions

Also, antiviral drugs can cause side effects such asnausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Relenza is an inhaled medication, so you shouldn’t use it if you haveasthmaorchronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

如果你在high risk forflu complicationsbecause you’re over age 65, you have a chronic health condition, or you’repregnant, let your doctor know if you get the flu. Also, call your doctor right away if you have any of the more serious flu symptoms, such as trouble breathing ordizziness.

Colds

Common coldsare caused by many different viruses. These viruses spread through the air, just like influenza.

When they make their way into your nose, eyes, or mouth, cold viruses cause symptoms such as:

• a runny or stuffy nose
• watery eyes
• sore throat
• occasional cough

You might get a low-grade fever, too.

Treat your cold by taking it easy. Drink water and other non-caffeinated fluids and get as much rest as you can.

You can also take an OTC cold remedy. Some of these drugs come in multi-symptom (cold, cough, fever) varieties. Be careful not to treat symptoms you don’t have. You could end up with side effects you don’t expect — or want.

Decongestantnasal spraysrelieve congestion. However, if you use a certain type for more than three days, it could give you arebound stuffed nose. Some of these drugs can also cause an increase in blood pressure or a rapid heartbeat.

If you havehigh blood pressure,an irregular heart rhythm, orheart disease, talk to your doctor before you use a decongestant.Antihistaminescan also help clear up a stuffy nose, but older ones such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can make you sleepy.

Colds are usually mild, but they can sometimes lead tocomplicationssuch asbronchitisorpneumonia.

Shop for nasal decongestant sprays.

Respiratory allergies

Your sneezing, sniffling nose, and watery eyes might not be contagious at all. If they happen at certain times of the year (like spring) and they stick around for a few weeks or months, you could haveallergies. Allergies can be triggered by irritants in your environment such as:

• pollen
• pet dander
• dust mites
• mold

One way to tell the difference between allergies and a contagious infection is that allergies typically don’t cause symptoms such as fever and body aches.

Avoiding your triggers is the best way to ward off allergy symptoms.

To relieve allergy symptoms when they happen, try taking one or more of these medications:

• Antihistaminesblock the effects of histamine. Your immune system releases this chemical when you have an allergic reaction. Some antihistamines can make you tired. They can also cause other side effects such as constipation and dry mouth.
• Decongestantsnarrow blood vessels in your nose to bring down swelling and reduce running. These drugs can make you jittery, keep you awake at night, and increase your blood pressure or heart rate.
• Nasal steroidscontrol inflammation and related swelling in your nose. Some steroid solutions can dry out your nose or cause nosebleeds.

Shop for antihistamines.

Outlook

Most respiratory infections clear up within a few days. Stay home until you feel better. This ensures you don’t allow the infection to get worse — or get anyone else sick. Also, hold off on returning to work if your treatments are causing side effects such as excessive drowsiness.

If your symptoms don’t improve or they start to get worse, let your doctor know. You might have a bacterial infection that needs treatment with an antibiotic.