How long is tonsillitis infectious for?
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at
12:30 pm
and when is it infectious – eg for how long before symptoms show etc
Filed under: Tonsillitis Symptoms
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probablly a few days before the symptoms appear and a couple of weeks after.
the onset of infection is varible, 2-3 weeks incubation period. usually tonsillitis is not infectious unless the bacteria belongs to that particular group.
without treatment, the infection will only get worse, always see a physician for treatment. treatment depending on the results of a throat culture could be 10 to 14 days.
Joe
p.s. i am not a physician.
It would depend on the causative agent. If you have a bacterial tonsilitis, such as strep throat, the only thing that will make you noninfectious would be an antibiotic. You’ll generally be okay to return to school or work after a day or two of antibiotics, but you’ll need to take the full course prescribed by your doctor to be completely cured. This generally requires a throat culture for definitive diagnosis. If you had a viral tonsilitis, then there’s really nothing that can be done other than to wait it out. Drink plenty of fluids and stay home until you feel better, generally a day or two later.