On the eighth day after symptoms first appeared, 19% to 75% showed signs of virus remaining in their noses, depending on the type of test used. De Serres and other researchers in Canada took nose and throat swabs from 43 patients with lab-confirmed flu and dozens of other sick family members. "It's probably realistic that this virus sheds much longer than seasonal flu," said Dr Jonathan McCullers, an infectious diseases specialist at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in the US.
The first such studies of swine flu are just coming out now, and they imply a longer contagious period for the novel bug. "It's just virtually impossible not to have virus introduced into settings such as schools and universities."ĭoctors know that people can spread ordinary seasonal flu for a couple of days before and after symptoms start by studying virus that patients shed in mucus. "We tried to have our guidance balance out all of these factors," she said. Swine flu is spreading so widely now that confining the sick does less good, she said. Long breaks from school and work do not seem worth it for a virus that now seems to cause mostly mild illness, said the CDC's flu chief, Nancy Cox. It is unclear whether the new research will lead the CDC to rethink its advice on how long people with swine flu should hole up. It is the first big meeting of infectious disease experts since the emergence of swine flu.
He presented one of the studies at an American Society for Microbiology conference.
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