In my practice, sometimes a patient will tell me, “Hi, Doc, my [family member] was just diagnosed with a sinus infection and put on antibiotics. I’m starting to have symptoms now, so I wanted to get on top of it.”

The thought being, maybe if I start antibiotics now, I’ll get over this more quickly.

I completely understand the logic here, but, unfortunately, the reality is not quite so simple.

Because bacterial sinus infections are not contagious.

What?!

Yes, it’s true.

Although bacteria are contagious in many circumstances, in general, unless you have direct contact with someone else’s ‘pocket of pus,’ you probably won’t get it from them.

See, you have to think of a bacterial sinus infection like an abscess in the face. It’s a pocket of pus trapped in the sinuses. Yuck.

Most of us won’t develop cellulitis or an abscess if we’re in the same room with someone who has such a skin infection. It’s possible, but if we’re not touching it, we probably won’t.

It’s similar with the sinuses (albeit not exactly the same).

For most people, their sinus infection didn’t just happen out of the blue. They first developed allergies or a viral illness that created the mucus-environment in the sinuses which then gives the bacteria a place to grow.

So, again, if everyone in the house has nasal congestion, sore throat and cough, then everyone probably has a virus.

Since bacterial sinus infections can develop in that environment, it’s important to pay attention to how the symptoms change over time.

IF individuals start to have more facial pain and swelling (and sometimes pain in the upper teeth) THEN we might need to treat only those with such symptoms with antibiotics.

In the meantime, for the patient mentioned above, it’s still best to treat the virus like a virus.

With a good strategy*, there’s a strong chance that they won’t end up needing antibiotics.

Keep in mind that I am making generalizations here. There are exceptions to most rules when it comes to human health and illness. So, ultimately, each person should be seen and evaluated independently to determine the proper course. My point here is that just because one person in a family has been treated for a bacterial sinus infection with antibiotics, it does not mean that everyone else should automatically take them as well.

* For a good URI strategy, check my video on treating upper respiratory infections.