How long after having a stomach bug (vomiting and/or diarrhea) do you wait to go out into public?

dunvilles

Just out of sheer curiosity!

dunvilles

I am a teacher and our school "rule of thumb" is 24 hours AFTER the fever breaks and/or 24 hours after having no diarrhea/vomiting. (Not that parents follow these rules though... its just our school policy).

That said, FIL had a stomach bug last weekend on Friday (all day/night). Saturday he didn't vomit but felt weak... he went out with step-MIL to buy a tv.... My thought was YOU JUST POTENTIALLY INFECTED EVERYTHING YOU TOUCHED!!!! Crazy bc he is the kind of person that washes his hands after looking at a menu etc...

My mom came down with the stomach bug last night and this morning she said if she felt ok after a couple hours, she'd go into work. I told her that she should wait AT LEAST 24 hrs, even if she felt better. A guy at her office had the bug and came in two mornings in a row, threw up, and left... so chances are she got it from him. I told her she would be just like him if she went in now. So she's staying home today.

Thoughts?

cauliflowereyes

I kinda know better these days, but I can recall having bouts of a stomch bug or a gross flu-like bug back in university or when I was a single lady living on my own, and having no choice but to emerge from my horrid sick nest out into the public to collect food, pay bills, stuff I had to do to survive.. I probably could have recruited some poor sap to do my bidding for me, but out I went! 

I wouldn't pull that shiz anymore unless it was absolutely necessary, but it reminds me how many sickies there are, touching stuff in public. EGAD 

slwprincess

I have coworkers that do not understand this concept AT ALL.  It drives me crazy.  They come in running fevers, coughing, vomiting, etc.  It pisses me off to no end.  Our office has a very liberal leave policy and all of us are equipped to telework.  There is NO REASON that any of these people should be coming in to work while sick.  It's not just my office either... DH's group just recently had the flu work its way through.  What irritated me about that one is that they offered free flu shots and he was the only one that got one (basically b/c I'm pg and made him).  So every single person in his office shared the flu but DH never got it.  Even so, he still had to be around all those germs and bring them home b/c these morons wouldn't stay home.  People are stupid.  

queeniecrayon

I've never worked with a stomach bug, but I have worked with a cough/fever. Our attendance policy SUCKS, so I draw my line at vomit/diarrhea.

funchicken

With a lot of stomach bugs you're still contagious for 3 days after symptoms subside, so I usually keep my kids and myself home for a couple of extra days.

boogerbearoriginal

While I don't disagree that it's important to keep your germs to yourself, I think it's worth noting that MANY viruses are contagious/spread before symptoms present. Which is why these things tend to spread so easily, we often do so unknowingly the day/two before we're sick ourselves.  As a general rule, I stay home until I'm feeling better.

katykatykaty

Booger+Bear said:

While I don't disagree that it's important to keep your germs to yourself, I think it's worth noting that MANY viruses are contagious/spread before symptoms present. Which is why these things tend to spread so easily, we often do so unknowingly the day/two before we're sick ourselves.  As a general rule, I stay home until I'm feeling better.

Lurking from March, but I've read that stomach viruses are different from other viruses in that they aren't contagious until you start showing symptoms, but you stay contagious 3-4 days after your last "episode."