How long are you contagious after taking tamiflu?

If you’ve ever had the flu, then you know how terrible it can be. The symptoms hit like a ton of bricks, making us feel miserable for weeks. While there is no cure for the flu, there are medications we can take to lessen its severity and shorten the duration of our illness. One such medication is Tamiflu – a popular antiviral drug that’s been used since 1999.

While most people have taken Tamiflu at some point during their lives, they often don’t realize that it comes with specific guidelines about contagion after taking it. Here’s what you need to know to keep yourself and others safe:

What Is Tamiflu

Let’s start with the basics: what exactly is Tamiflu? Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is an antiviral medication used to treat or prevent influenza viruses A and B in people over one year old.

Tamiflu works by interfering with neuraminidase enzymes produced by influenza viruses, which stops them from spreading within your body (pretty nifty right?). When taken within 48 hours after symptoms appear, this medication helps reduce the length of time it takes for you to recover from the flu by several days while preventing complications associated with severe cases.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s tackle our main question: How long are you contagious after taking tamiflu?

Contagion Period Preceding Treatment

The truth is everyone reacts differently when exposed to these viruses (duh). So determining when someone will get better varies based on different factors like age, immune system response time as well as overall health status which may influence how quickly individuals overcome their respective infections (mind blown).

Before answering our initial question though one thing must be considered; regardless if they take a prescription medication or not, people could still spread the virus to others before they actually show symptoms.

For influenza, a person is contagious starting from one day before showing symptoms and becomes less infectious about seven days after onset. Children can stay contagious for longer periods of time (Remember kids have stronger antibodies because they haven’t been exposed as many times as adults do).

Contagion After Taking Tamiflu

If you’ve taken Tamiflu, congratulations – you’re well on your way to feeling better. However, that doesn’t mean you’re automatically in the clear when it comes to spreading the flu bug around.

After taking Tamiflu people shed viruses for shorter durations compared to those who don’t take medication. Since tamiflu shortens symptom duration by 48-72 hours (hooray!), patients tend not to be shedding viruses past 5 days from symptom start because at this point their immune system has fought off most of the viral load … which means a whole lot fewer bugs getting transmitted onto innocent bystanders (can I get an amen?).

However; it’s worth noting that there are always exceptions, especially since no two cases of influenza are alike (good luck with that!). Therefore individuals must always follow good hygiene practices long after their recovery process:

Hygiene tips post-treatment include:

• Washing hands often using soap and water
• Covering mouth and nose with disposable tissues
• If unavailable tissue use inside elbow instead during sneezes or coughs (practice makes perfect)
• Regularly clean surfaces(such as counters) with disinfectant wipes

When all is said and done anybody infected should keep tabs on how body feels during treatment phases and then practice caution when coming into contact with other individuals (just channel your inner Lysol ad)!

Preventive Measures To Reduce Flu Spread

While there’s no cure for the flu, focusing on prevention is key to reducing the spread of infection (we can’t say it enough). So, here are a few tips you should follow if you want to keep yourself and those around you healthy:

Vaccination

Getting vaccinated against influenza annually is one of the best ways to prevent getting sick (come on people make it trending).

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that everyone six months old or older get vaccinated against the flu every year, especially those who are at high risk such as pregnant women or over 65-years-olds.

Clean Hands Policy

Regular hand-washing helps stop virus spreads (like breaking up with germs), by killing any bacteria found in them which may have wandered from contaminated surfaces. Experts suggest washing hands thoroughly using soap for about 20 seconds. If soap isn’t available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer until running water becomes accessible

### Cover Mouth And Nose When Coughing Or Sneezing

Contamination usually results when flu patients talk coughs or sneeze into open air (gross!). Hence another preventive measure: whenever we sneeze or cough covering our mouths/nose with a clean tissue can catch droplets. Dispose of used tissues immediately in approved bins after ensuring that hands have been washed properly since they too just caught all those tissues gunkiness.

Final Thoughts

So there you go guys everything about how long contagious periods last on tamiflu has been dissected (pretty neat right?) Of course this information must be paired with proper hygiene … post-treatment; looking out for warning signs during treatment phases so as not expose family members/coworkers/friends/clientele … We know it’s easier said than done but nonetheless important!

Remember that these measures apply yearly peeps – none specific (winks)- #StaySafe