Not looking for medical advice, but rather medical information. I’ve had an URI for about three weeks. The last two days, my symptoms have abated quite a bit. I still have a bit of residue, but I feel much better. Am I still contagious? How do I know when I’m not?
Some answers from Dr. Google:
(However, 3 weeks is very long for a cold; are you sure it’s not flu or Covid?)
Cleveland Clinic: You can be contagious for up to two weeks, even spreading a cold a day or two before you have symptoms. But you’re most contagious when your symptoms are at their worst — usually the first three days you feel sick.
Katherine Schmidt, MD, of the Department of Internal Medicine at the UC College of Medicine: Colds typically last about seven to 10 days. In the last few days, your cold gradually gets better. “You’re not usually contagious a week or so into [a cold],”
Cedars-Sinai: You’re generally contagious with a cold 1-2 days before your symptoms start, and you could be contagious as long as your symptoms are present—in rare cases, up to 2 weeks.
The answer is different from an absolute no risk perspective and from the practical side.
From the practical side we consider contagiousness to be low enough to be called “not” when fever free at least 24 hours and clearly improving. That’s usually five to seven days and more typically the five.
But there are still a few particles present possibly for weeks, so theoretically …
Plus of course apparent prolonged symptoms may represent overlapping separate infections, the newest of which may still be spewing bits out. Or OTOH a non contagious bacterial infection, like a sinusitis, on top.
So can’t definitely say.