There is a chance that Bronchitis can be contagious because it has two types. If you have been suffering from lots of coughs, you may have Bronchitis. The cough caused by Bronchitis may make breathing difficult and you may experience fever, tiredness, chest pain, and wheezing. If you want to know whether or if is Bronchitis contagious or not, be with us in this article. We will discuss several medical points regarding Bronchitis, its symptoms, causes, and medical treatment. Therefore, if you have any of its symptoms, you can understand what you can do next.
Table of Contents
What Do You Mean By Bronchitis and is bronchitis contagious?
You may have Bronchitis when your bronchioles get inflamed to cause much more mucus. Bronchioles are the air-carrying tubes that are present in your lungs. Bronchitis has two types.
Bronchitis (Chronic):
This one is cough-producing sputum that takes approximately three months to recover. Sometimes, the healing process of a cat takes one or two years. You may have a cough and inflammation initially because of the infection or illness in the respiratory system.
If a patient has chronic Bronchitis, it causes airflow obstruction. It is one of the COPD diseases.
Bronchitis (Acute):
Short-term or acute Bronchitis is more commonly seen among people. The common reason is a viral infection. Smoking can make it worse, and the patient may experience severe symptoms. However, this one type of Bronchitis is healed in just 10 to 14 days. Sometimes, it may take three weeks.
Can You Call Bronchitis Contagious?
If you want to know if it is Bronchitis Contagious or not, let us find it out. Generally, we can say it can be contagious or not. The reason is that it has two types. You don’t have to say that chronic Bronchitis is contagious; however, if your lung airways are inflamed for long, and if the symptoms of Bronchitis last for more than three months, it can take time to recover. Many patients have to suffer for around two years. Hence, it becomes a severe lung disease and comes in the category of COPD group.
Acute Bronchitis can last up to three weeks, as we have discussed. Cold or flu viruses can cause it. However, these viruses are considered contagious, and you can say acute Bronchitis falls under the category of contagious.
Is Bronchitis Contagious? But How Long?
The period of Bronchitis to be contagious depends on the type of viruses you have. In many cases, it takes a few days to a week. Patients may not know the type of illnesses they have when they suffer from Bronchitis. Moreover, doctors can not taste or don’t taste patients for all viruses. Of course, there are hundreds of viruses worldwide, and the best way to stop spreading the virus is to believe that you could spread the virus and diseases when you have the symptoms of cold and fever.
What Are The Causes Of Bronchitis?
You all know that when your bronchial tubes get inflammation, it is known as Bronchitis. Bronchitis is either chronic or acute. This section will discuss the causes of acute Bronchitis and acute Bronchitis.
What Causes Acute Bronchitis?
The most common cause of acute Bronchitis is an infection, making it contagious. So, if you have had a doubt that is Bronchitis contagious or not, yes, the acute one is. It takes seven days to ten days for the infection to leave.
- Acute one starts with the upper respiratory infection. The most common causes are viruses that cause colds and flu. Mostly, the other cause of Bronchitis is bacteria. So, there is less chance of it.
- The viruses that cause an infection like Bronchitis are commonly observed viruses like influenza.
- Sometimes, viral and bacterial infections are experienced simultaneously in bronchitis patients.
- It causes cough and other symptoms that doctors treat with medications.
What Causes Chronic Bronchitis?
- This infection in your bronchial tubes can last for years, and its typical cause is smoking. However, some prolonged exposure to irritants can also cause Bronchitis. It causes lots of cough and breathing problems.
- Smoking and exposure to environmental toxins and air pollution can also cause chronic Bronchitis.
- Some flu viruses cause acute or chronic Bronchitis. So, you must check yourself for flu symptoms yearly.
What Bacteria Cause Bronchitis?
Even if your Bronchitis results from bacterial infection, it’s easy to transmit them to people whose immune system is not working correctly or have some chronic health conditions. Old-aged people and children are at risk of the following bacteria that cause Bronchitis.
- Bordetella pertussis
- Streptococcus species
- Mycoplasma pneumonia
How Will It Spread?
- Bronchitis transmits through some microscopic, and these are airborne droplets that consist of germ. When people speak, sneeze, and cough, this germ comes out.
- If you shake hands with people who have been suffering from the infection, you may easily be one of the infected people.
- Some Bronchitis patients get the bad news of infection during their regular flu season. So, it’s possible to prevent or lessen the chances of having an infection if you prefer yearly flu screening.
- The process of spreading is the same as cold and viruses. The infection begins if you get the virus (breathing in or passing hands to your mouth, eyes, or nose). If someone has an infection and blows nose, sick cough, and sneezes on the surfaces, you may infect yourself when you come in contact with such surfaces.
- You can see yourself infected if you come across the infected people, surfaces, and boundaries of objects that have germs. It would be best if you covered your mouth and nose when you know you have Bronchitis symptoms. It is better to protect people.
Symptoms Or Signs Of Bronchitis:
If you have an acute infection, the Bronchitis symptoms start coming with the most probably tiredness first. Next, coughing, headache, sore throat, and other common symptoms are possibly seen.
You will experience the following symptoms for a week or two weeks. But they may continue coming for several weeks, and the following are the most common bronchitis symptoms.
- Wheezing
- Breathing difficulty
- Discomfort and Chest pain
- Phlegm (mucus) (It ranges from clear to yellowish-green)
- Low or minor fever
- The common synonyms of chronic Bronchitis are as under;
- Long term irritation
- Inflammation in bronchial tubes
- Chronic and phlegmy cough
These symptoms can last for approximately three months. Moreover, these synonyms come and go for two years or sometimes longer. If you have chronic bronchitis, the symptoms may continue coming for approximately three months or more.
Bronchitis Is Common For Whom?
People of any age group will have the symptoms of acute or chronic Bronchitis. We already discussed that acute infections would stay for 10 to 14 days, and some may last longer.
Aged people might experience chronic and severe symptoms for longer periods, depending on their health condition. They might have rapid breathing, confusion thinking, and more. Some of them might have severe conditions like pneumonia. The most commonly infected people with chronic Bronchitis are adults compared to children.
When To Seek Doctor?
Now you might not have the question of whether it is Bronchitis contagious or not. We have discussed that this medical condition occurs due to viruses and bacteria. These viruses are easily transmitted from person to person due to some droplets spread by coughing, sneezing, and talking of an ill individual.
We discussed the symptoms and causes of chronic and acute Bronchitis. Therefore, the following are the reasons to seek medical help if you are a patient of this disease.
- Cough is not curing in or after 10 days.
- You feel uncomfortable
- You have been coughing too hard, which makes sleeping impossible
- There is chest pain while coughing
- Difficulties in breathing due to too much cough
- Your fever temperature is more than 100.4°F
- You feel unable to breathe, sleep, and rest due to cough
- The mucus you cough have blood, and the symptoms are severe
If anyone mentioned above is observed in your case, consult a medical professional and ask for help.
How To Treat Bronchitis?
To treat your Bronchitis, you can use simple ways like quitting smoking and building habit to get plenty of rest and drink fluids. The following ways are used to treat this disease.
- Doctors recommend some OTC drugs.
- They prescribe some antibiotics.
- You can use a humidifier
- Avoid smoking
- Use glucocorticoids to lower inflammation
- Other medications suggested by doctors
Wrapping Up:
Do you still think this information is insufficient to solve your query about whether it is Bronchitis contagious or not? We collected and shared detailed information about Bronchitis, its types, symptoms, causes, and treatment in this article. If you think you are a patient of this disease or someone in your touch has the symptoms, you should consider this legit article and consult Medical Professionals. If the symptoms don’t vanish in a week or after ten days, you must ask for medical help. Generally, most patients see their symptoms going in a few days. If you have any queries regarding Bronchitis or symptoms of this disease, let us know, and we will solve your queries.
