# H1N1 question: How long is it contagious?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 13, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604 "2009-10-13T00:37:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604/1 "2009-10-13T00:37:52Z")

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My daughter woke up friday morning with a sore throat and fever. We kept her home from school. When her fever kept escalating, I took her to urgent care on saturday night, and they said she probably had H1N1. She still had her fever last night, but it was gone this morning. She still has the sore throat, though. Her school has a policy that you’re supposed to keep the kid home until she’s been fever-free for 24 hours.

My question:

If the kid’s fever has been gone for 24 hours but she still has the sore throat, is she still contagious for H1N1? We don’t want her to miss any more school, but we don’t want to send a Typhoid Mary into the classroom either?

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**Author:** ![AmunRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AmunRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmunRa)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604/2 "2009-10-13T00:42:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> **How long can an infected person spread this virus to others?**  
> People infected with seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu shed virus and may be able to infect others from **1 day before getting sick to 5 to 7 days after**. This can be longer in some people, especially children and people with weakened immune systems and in people infected with the new H1N1 virus.

From [cdc.gov](http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm)

Based on the above and what I have been taught about normal flu I would say that sore throat = still contagious.

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604/3 "2009-10-13T14:19:11Z")

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Have them send her work home. While its likely that she caught it from someone at the school, sending her back too early is going to expose dozens of her classmates, plus their siblings, their parents, their parents co-workers, etc.

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h1n1-question-how-long-is-it-contagious/513604/4 "2009-10-13T14:35:56Z")

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Thanks. We kept her home again today. My wife is going to pick up her homework later this afternoon.