By Rob Stein |
The Washington Post
People may be able to spread swine flu even after their symptoms have subsided, according to new research.
A study of Air Force cadets who came down with the flu this summer found that a significant proportion of them were still "shedding" virus more than 24 hours after their fever and other symptoms had disappeared.
Public health authorities have been asking people to stay home from work and school for at least a day after their temperatures return to normal, in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. But the new findings, reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, raise questions about that advice.
The new study involved some of the 1,300 basic cadet trainees who arrived at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., on June 25 for a six-week military training program. By July 6, some of the cadets began to experience flu-like symptoms, and two tested positive for the illness. The virus apparently spread during a social mixer; cases peaked 48 hours after the event and dropped off quickly afterwards.
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Thanks for posting the link to the original article on how long H1N1 may be spread after fever. It's good fact-checking for me. I'd read the study as meaning H1N1 could be transmitted for a week after the fever, which is not the best way to state the results.
ReplyDeleteI posted up some research on whether face masks are effective in reducing transmission of swine flu, and comparisons of face mask types. You might want to check it out in some of my tweets as LauraConcepts or from my homepage www.flurules.com. Studies were going back and forth, but there's enough evidence now to say some benefit from face masks in preventing flu transmission. It's not culturally the norm in America to wear a mask, but we could change that if we needed to.