Is bronchitis contagious to others?

In order to understand whether or not bronchitis is contagious, let's see what the disease is, what are the causes and symptoms.

• Causes of the disease
• Is bronchitis in children contagious?
• Acute bronchitis, contagious or not
• Is chronic obstructive bronchitis contagious?
• How many days is contagious
• Infectious bronchitis for infants
• Is bronchitis contagious for pregnant women?

Bronchitis is called inflammatory processes in the bronchi. This disease occurs for various reasons. On the question of whether this disease is contagious to others, it can be confidently answered that it directly depends on the causes of the onset.

Causes of the disease

Smoking. Due to the constant poisoning of the trachea with tobacco smoke, the mucosa becomes inflamed and damaged. Bronchitis smoker takes several stages. In the absence of treatment, it develops into a chronic form and leads to severe consequences, such as lung cancer.

Important!It should be noted that the smoker's bronchitis is not contagious if its aggravation is not caused by viruses and bacteria.

Bronchitis, arising from the inhalation of harmful particles from the air. Often people are forced to work in enterprises with unfavorable working conditions. It can be fabric factories, factories producing toxic materials, dusty rooms and others. Due to the constant poisoning of the lungs with small particles, this disease often develops. The lungs undergo protective processes, mucus is produced in large quantities, which provokes a cough.

Important!If there is no infection, the disease is not contagious. A sick person can not infect others.

Inflammatory processes, as a consequence of a viral or bacterial infection. Often the inflammation of the bronchi is caused by various viruses and bacteria. If you get into the body of streptococci, staphylococci, pneumococci, and influenza viruses, and this disease may develop or become worse.

Important!In such cases, the disease is considered contagious, since pathogenic microbes spread with the patient's cough.

Is bronchitis in children contagious?

Children tend to suffer from colds often. As a result of constant virus attacks, children who attend kindergarten and school often develop viral diseases and their complications.

From the causes of this disease in children depends on whether it is infectious or not. Disease in children is divided into these types:

• viral - caused by viruses (influenza, adenoviruses);
• bacterial - provoked by bacteria (streptococci, staphylococcus and others);
• allergic - occurs due to irritation of bronchial mucosa by allergens.

Due to unformed immunity, children are prone to frequent development of inflammatory processes in the bronchi.

Important!In most cases, bronchitis in children is contagious, since with a cough, microbes that can provoke diseases of the respiratory tract get into the air.

Acute bronchitis, contagious or not

To answer this question, you need to know the causes of acute bronchitis. Doctors say that this disease most often occurs against the background of bronchial lesions by various viruses and bacteria. On this basis, it can be argued that acute bronchitis is contagious to others.

The main symptom of the disease is cough. Every time a patient coughs or sneezes, a patient with saliva spreads pathogens. With direct contact with a person with acute bronchitis, the chances of catching an infection are quite high.

Interesting to know!When coughing an adult person, viruses spread through the air at a high speed and can fly apart at a distance of about 10 meters, with sneezing of 15-20 meters.

Is chronic obstructive bronchitis contagious?

The following factors belong to the causes of obstructive disease:

1. Viruses.
2. Bacteria.
3. Allergy.

In the first two cases, bronchial disease can be a consequence of the life-activity of pathogenic viruses and bacteria. Allergic appearance of the disease occurs due to irritation of the lungs with various allergens (dust, smoke, animal hair, chemicals).

As a result of the transferred infectious diseases, obstructive bronchitis develops. This disease is characterized by spasms of the lungs, as a result of which excretion of mucus becomes impossible. If the treatment is not properly treated, the disease becomes chronic. By itself, bronchitis is not contagious, since it is a consequence of a transmitted infection. Danger is the cause, that is, the virus.

How many days is contagious

In most cases, bronchial disease is caused by a viral and bacterial character. Less common cause are fungal infections and allergic reactions. One can not clearly answer the question of how many days bronchitis is infectious. It depends on the individual characteristics of the patient's immune system, intensity of treatment and some other factors. It is believed that the risk of infection persists as long as the patient has acute symptoms of the disease (cough, temperature, general malaise).

Infectious bronchitis for infants

Newborns have unformed immunity. The organism of the infant is susceptible to various diseases. Answering the question of whether bronchitis is infectious for infants, it can be answered that everything depends on the causes of the disease. With the infectious origin of the disease, the danger of infecting a child is very high. But this does not mean that the baby will immediately have bronchitis. Most likely, you can expect acute respiratory infections and flu.

Is bronchitis contagious for pregnant women?

A feature of the body of women in the situation is a greater vulnerability to diseases. This is explained by the weakening of immunity and hormonal changes. When in contact with a person who has bronchitis of a viral and bacterial origin, there is a considerable risk of infection. After the virus enters the body, there are diseases of the upper respiratory tract, influenza and others. This is highly undesirable for women in the situation, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Important!Most often infectious is neither the bronchitis itself, but its cause, that is, the infection.

In view of the foregoing, care must be taken when dealing with sick people. Take care of your health and be happy.