Vomit how long contagious

What home remedies may help children who are vomiting? Is stomach flu contagious? How long does it last? Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M. How long is it contagious for? Duration Symptoms In children Prevention Contacting a doctor Diet Summary Stomach flu is extremely contagious and can spread through person-to-person contact. How long is stomach flu contagious for?

How long does stomach flu last? In children. How to avoid catching stomach flu. When to contact a doctor. What to eat if you have stomach flu.

Adolescent depression: Could school screening help? Related Coverage. Causes and treatments of stomach flu. Medically reviewed by University of Illinois. Stomach flu: How long does it last in adults and children? Medically reviewed by Jenneh Rishe, RN. Causes of vomiting and diarrhea. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Stomach viruses — commonly though incorrectly called " stomach flu " — make us miserable.

No one wants to spend days dealing with vomiting and diarrhea. If you add in a fever, nausea, and weakness on top of that, it adds up to misery. Not many people consider leaving the house when the stomach flu hits. It often starts out with repeated bouts of vomiting and it's difficult to go anywhere when you can hardly stay out of the bathroom.

But sometimes the symptoms lessen but still linger and you may wonder how long you really need to stay home to keep from spreading it to other people. This question can be even harder for parents to answer when their kids are sick. If you need to get back to work and aren't sure if your child is well enough to go to school -- what are the guidelines? In general, you need to stay home or keep your kids home for 24 hours to 48 hours after the symptoms of the illness subside.

This includes vomiting and diarrhea. And don't forget the fever. If your child is running a fever , she is contagious and is more likely to spread her germs to everyone she comes into contact with. Even without a fever, stomach viruses are highly contagious and spread easily from person to person when you have symptoms.

It can be tempting to send your child to school if they went all night without vomiting or having diarrhea, but waiting a full 24 hours after the last episode occurred is important because the symptoms could return.

If you make it a full day and night with no symptoms, it is unlikely that they will reappear after that. If you are dealing with a stomach virus and want to make the symptoms stop as quickly as possible, there are several steps you should take right away.

Many people unknowingly prolong their illness and symptoms because they treat them incorrectly. You should not eat or drink immediately after vomiting. Allowing your stomach time to rest after it has expelled everything in it is important. You need to wait at least 15 minutes after vomiting before you try to take even a small sip of water. Increasing your intake of water by a small amount will ensure that your body can handle it without repeated bouts of vomiting.

Treating your symptoms properly when you have a stomach virus is essential to recovering quickly. You are most contagious.

However, studies have shown that you can still spread norovirus for two weeks or more after you feel better. Norovirus can easily contaminate food and water because it only takes a very small amount of virus particles to make you sick. Food and water can get contaminated with norovirus in many ways, including when:. Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States. Most of these outbreaks occur in food service settings like restaurants.

Infected food workers are frequently the source of outbreaks, often by touching ready-to-eat foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, with their bare hands before serving them. However, any food served raw or handled after being cooked can become contaminated with norovirus.

Stomach flu: How long am I contagious? Products and services. How long am I contagious if I have the stomach flu? Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again.

Show references Norovirus. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed Feb. Matson DO. Acute viral gastroenteritis in children in resource-rich countries: Management and prevention.

Prevent the spread of norovirus. Viral gastroenteritis.