People who have certain illnesses are usually only contagious for a certain amount of time. If you are worried about getting sick, it is best to avoid people who have illnesses. People who do not know about how germs travel and people get sick often pass on their illnesses by their sheer lack of knowledge. The best way to not pass on illnesses is to practice healthy hygiene, like sneezing into your armpits, washing your hands after touching your nose or sneezing, and covering your mouth when you cough. When people follow these basic practices, they can help not spread illness like strep throat.
Contagious Illnesses and Fevers
If you have developed a case of strep throat, you are contagious for a certain amount of time. Many times, people are contagious while they have a fever. When people become ill, they develop fevers as the body’s way of killing the infection, virus, and bacteria that is causing the illness. The duration of the fever is the body’s way of telling you and the people around you that you have not yet rid the virus from your body. It is during this time that you are most contagious. So, when you have a fever, avoid kissing people or doing other things that will spread the virus and make other people sick.
Contagious Before Symptoms Arise
It does not take very long for a person to catch an illness from someone who already has it. But, unfortunately, it takes much longer for someone to get the illness out of their bodies than it does to catch the disease. When you have something like strep throat, you will feel pain in your throat for longer than you want and you might be away from work or school for a few days to a week. However, the fact that strep throat is quite contagious, it is a good idea to remain the privacy of your bedroom so that people will stay away from you and not get sick, too.
Practice Healthy Hygiene
Unfortunately for many illnesses, including strep throat, people are contagious before the symptoms even occur. As the illness works its way through the body, the bodily fluids have the illness and by sneezing or coughing, you can pass the illness on to other people. This is why it is so important that you maintain good hygiene habits of covering your mouth when you cough and sneezing into a tissue or into your elbow when you do not have a tissue nearby. You might think you are perfectly healthy, but your body fluids might not be so healthy.
Wash Your Hands
It is also important to wash your hands frequently, especially when you are coming in contact with foods or with other people. You should also know that there are many different objects that people touch all of the time and are actually covered with bacteria and other microscopic things that can make the human body feel very unwell in a short amount of time.