How contagious is croup? worried for my 5m.o.

susan1017

DD has the croup and has been all over DS much to my dismay and failed attempts to keep her away from him. She is on Prednisione but not too bad but I am worried about DS.

Thanks

 

JOEBunny

My Doctor said it is very contagious.  DS has it before Thanksgiving.  She told me not to take DS around other babies at all.  (DD had a Thanksgiving program and I had to miss it because I could not take DS with me, since there are several other babies that would have been there.)  Just wash your hands a lot.  That is all you can do, that and get in to get steriods as soon as it starts.

susan1017

Thanks. The baby is starting with a runny nose and light cough but he is also in teething hell at the moment. Why do these things always hit on a weekend?? :-(

ridesbuttons

I'd like to add that most cases of croup are resolved on their own and treated with warm, moist air or cool moist air with no steroids involved. 

moseyma

Actually, to be precise, croup is technically *not* contagious.  The virus that causes croup is contagious, but some kids will develop croup, while others infected with the same virus will not develop it.  That being said, the viral infection that causes croup is highly contagious.  It's airborne, so I don't really think there's a heck of a lot you can do to prevent the spread, short of sending one of them to the grandparents or making them wear masks ;-) Just try to keep the her hands clean before she touches him, and clean any toys he may out in his mouth, but otherwise, there's not much you can do. Good luck, I know croup can be pretty scary.