A few words about tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an infectious disease that can lead to the development of severe complications without appropriate treatment. The pathology is accompanied by acute inflammation of the tonsils, as well as a sore throat.
The cause of sore throat is infection:
- streptococci;
- staphylococci;
- pneumococci;
- diplococci;
- fungi;
- enteroviruses (herpes sore throat).
According to the type of pathogen they distinguish:
- bacterial sore throat;
- viral tonsillitis.
Depending on the clinical picture of the disease, the following forms are distinguished:
- catarrhal, manifested by inflammation of the mucous membrane, an increase in the size of the tonsils;
- lacunar, accompanied by the accumulation of purulent fibrous masses in the lacunae;
- follicular, characterized by suppuration of the follicles (the appearance of purulent plugs).
According to the nature of the course, the disease is divided into acute and chronic forms.
Let's figure out how contagious sore throat is, how it is transmitted, and how you can prevent infection of others.
Is sore throat contagious to others?
Tonsillitis is a contagious disease (the disease can be transmitted from another person), the degree of contagiousness of which largely depends on its causative agent. Viral tonsillitis is considered especially dangerous - even the smallest drops of saliva that fall on the mucous membranes of a healthy member of society can lead to the development of pathology, the severity of which will directly depend on how strong his immunity is.
Methods of infection
Sore throat is an infectious disease. The main pathogens are fungi, viruses, and bacteria. Also, sore throat is transmitted from person to person. As a rule, infectious components enter the body through the air.
How is follicular tonsillitis transmitted? Children most often suffer from this form of the disease. The route of infection is endogenous (the pathogen is present in the body all the time and provokes the disease at the time of weakening of immunity). Often the disease spreads through the aerosol route, or through household contact.
Is catarrhal sore throat contagious? Certainly! And it poses a danger to others until the symptoms disappear completely and recovery occurs.
Is it possible to get infected with tonsillitis lacunar?
Lacunar tonsillitis is a pathology that develops as a result of insufficiently adequate or untimely treatment of catarrhal tonsillitis, accompanied by the formation in the lacunae of the tonsils of a grayish or yellowish, easily removable loose plaque caused by putrefactive processes. The disease is caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi and is transmitted much faster than the catarrhal form (the contagiousness of patients with tonsillitis suffering from this form is high).
Attention! Plaque that accumulates in the lacunae of the tonsils of patients with tonsillitis contains a large amount of pathogen that can leave the body during coughing, sneezing, talking (subsequently it remains viable in the external environment for a long time).
How many days is sore throat contagious?
It is a known fact that those infected with acute tonsillitis are carriers of the infection throughout the course of the pathology and for a certain time after its disappearance. Close people are always puzzled by this question: How to avoid getting a sore throat?
Considering that with the right approach to treatment, a person remains a carrier of the disease for nine to eleven days, and in some cases longer.
With a viral sore throat, the pathogen remains active for the first five days. Afterwards, the risk of infection is minimized, but still persists for at least nine days.
It is impossible to calculate the day when the patient ceases to pose a threat to others. After all, the state of immunity is different for all people.
For this reason, those with a weak immune system and pregnant women should not have contact with sick people for a long time and adhere to precautions.
People who have had a sore throat can return to work three days after they feel better.
For fourteen days you need to avoid physical activity, not get too cold, and take care of your vocal cords. If these rules are not followed, complications may arise.
Is follicular tonsillitis contagious?
Follicular tonsillitis is another complicated form of the disease, accompanied by damage to the mucous membranes of the tonsils due to the appearance of many small blisters containing pus, coupled with a large number of pathogenic viruses or bacteria. As they develop, the bubbles open, after which the pathogenic microflora fills the patient’s saliva, which makes him infectious to others (pathogenic microorganisms that cause the development of pathology are resistant to high and low temperatures, and therefore can exist for a long period of time without a carrier).
Attention! Follicular tonsillitis is very contagious to others.
How can you get a sore throat?
It is worth understanding that sore throat is contagious at almost any stage of its development. It is necessary to take the issue seriously so as not to aggravate the situation by not using the appropriate drug in a timely manner. In some months it is much easier to get sick, so you should think about reliable prevention in advance.
If you find out whether angina is transmitted, you can verify this without any problems. This disease is easily transmitted in a variety of ways. For this reason, the sick person is usually completely protected from all contacts.
How is angina transmitted from person to person?
Tonsillitis is transmitted from a sick person by airborne droplets, nutritional, and also contact and household routes.
The airborne route of infection involves the penetration of pathogenic microflora along with air. This is due to the fact that the mucous membranes of the oral cavity of patients contain a huge number of pathogenic microorganisms that enter the environment during sneezing, coughing, talking, and then survive without another carrier for quite a long time.
The most contagious types of the disease
It is believed that all types of sore throat are contagious, but the simplest - catarrhal - is practically not transmitted.
Especially if you take all precautions and limit communication with the patient.
The following types of pathology are considered the most contagious :
- Fungal. The disease is rare and very difficult, especially if treatment is neglected. But transmission from person to person does not occur as often as with other forms, and only with prolonged contact. In particular, the risk of transmitting this form of sore throat is very high between spouses, but is absent in the work team.
- Viral. The greatest risk of transmission is typical for pathologies caused by enterovirus, influenza virus or measles virus.
- Bacterial form of the disease. It is most often transmitted, but usually these are mild forms that are immediately noticeable, so they are easier to treat.
Keep in mind! Any form of purulent sore throat is almost always contagious.
In such cases, pathogenic bacteria are concentrated on the tonsils, which facilitates their free release into the environment, so this disease is characterized by airborne infection.
But even if pathogens pass to another person, they can play the role of opportunistic microorganisms, without showing themselves in any way as long as the immune system works well.
How to avoid infecting a child with tonsillitis?
It is quite natural that tonsillitis is easily transmitted from sick adults to children (especially when they are close to each other). Therefore, it will be better if parents limit, if possible, contact between the sick person and the baby and take all measures to reduce the risk of infection.
You should:
- place the sick person separately;
- observe the rules of personal hygiene, use cotton and gauze bandages (both for the patient and those around him who are in the same room with him);
- ventilate the room;
- carry out wet cleaning daily (you can use products containing chlorine);
- maintain temperature 19-20°C;
- exclude the use of household and hygiene items that have been used by the sick person;
- Follow all the recommendations of your doctor - this will significantly speed up the recovery process.
These precautions will prevent you from contracting a sore throat yourself and from infecting your child with it.
Routes of transmission of angina pathogens
- Airborne;
- contact;
- nutritional;
- spread of pathogens in the body itself.
Airborne path
Infection occurs when talking with a sick person or even as a result of being in the same room with him. You can become infected with a sore throat through airborne droplets at a distance of up to several meters from the sick person. It is especially dangerous if the sick person coughs or sneezes.
Contact path
You can become infected with a sore throat by sharing dishes or personal hygiene items (toothbrush) with a sick person or a carrier of germs. You can get a sore throat from kissing.
Nutritional
Microbes that cause sore throat can get into milk, minced meat, and drinks if food processing rules are not followed. Most often this happens in catering establishments. Outbreaks of sore throat of this origin are also likely in closed groups (military unit, sanatorium children's camp, etc.).
Autoinfection
The source of infection can be foci of chronic inflammation in the mouth, nose, pharynx (carious teeth, chronic tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, etc.). Under unfavorable external conditions (hypothermia, fatigue, decreased immunity, intoxication), microbes are activated and a disease occurs.
Is sore throat transmitted sexually?
Tonsillitis can be transmitted sexually, but infection will result from physical intimacy, accompanied by kissing, which increases the likelihood of infection by airborne droplets or contact.
The disease is not transmitted directly through the genitals. An exception to the rule is atypical gonococcal tonsillitis, caused by the causative agent of gonorrhea - gonococcus, which enters the oral cavity during oral intercourse and leads to inflammation of the tonsils, practically indistinguishable from the manifestations of catarrhal tonsillitis. Treatment of the described pathology is carried out by a venereologist who sees patients within the walls of the dermatovenereal dispensary.
How long is sore throat contagious in children?
Children remain contagious for just as long as adults. In the absence of therapy - two to four weeks, with treatment with antibacterial agents - two to three days (after this time period, sore throat is no longer contagious).
Attention! Treatment of children with antibacterial drugs is mandatory - this will avoid severe complications after a sore throat that affect internal organs.
How to avoid infecting others?
It is quite natural that preventing infection of others is much easier than subsequently treating the entire family. This statement is also true for tonsillitis. Prevention and precautions include:
- Early use of medications that suppress the infection (they are selected after obtaining the results of bacteriological culture, which makes it possible to determine the resistance of the pathogen to antibiotics).
- Limiting contact - the patient should be alone most of the time.
- Compliance with bed rest (going anywhere from the premises is strictly prohibited).
- Using a cotton-gauze bandage when communicating (you need to change it every few hours).
- Strengthening the immune system, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, as well as proper nutrition (the body must receive all the substances necessary for normal functioning) from family members, regardless of their age and gender.
These measures will help you avoid infecting others with sore throat and maintain the health of family members, friends, and colleagues, avoiding all the problems caused by the disease.
Is it possible to get a sore throat from a child?
On the other hand, it is quite possible to contract a sore throat from a sick child. Such situations are very common; fathers who neglect safety measures are especially often infected.
To protect against sore throat, first of all, you should communicate with the patient as little as possible, keep a distance from him, and if contact and care are necessary, wear a cotton-gauze bandage.
Again, the best way to avoid contracting a sore throat from a patient is to suppress the infection in him as quickly as possible. If you start giving your child an effective antibiotic today, tomorrow you will be able to communicate with your child calmly. If you don’t take antibiotics, you can never say for sure when a sore throat stops being contagious. This is the main difficulty in preventing this disease.
Azitro Sandoz in powder form is the optimal form of azithromycin for the treatment of sore throat in a small child.
Separately, we talked about how a pregnant woman can avoid contracting a sore throat from her child...
