Sinuses may primarily serve as airways, but their function is much more detailed than that. They’re loaded with nerve receptors in a way that your windpipe isn’t, even though both pathways end up in the lungs eventually. Your sinuses are much more sensitive because they need to be, and that’s why a sinus infection tends to be such an intolerable experience. They can be awful, and bacterial sinus infections are too. Sufferers won’t want others to go through the same, so they ask are bacterial sinus infections contagious? 

It's a fair question to ask, especially considering how it’s fairly common for certain people to get close to each other. If bacteria can a find their way from one hospitable environment to another, they’ll do it, but will they’ll cause the same infection in their new colonization spot that they did in the last one? Nope, at least not for a bacterial infection. A viral infection can be a whole different story though. And those who’ll be most at risk will be the ones you get face-to-face close with regularly. Spouses and children generally.  

So, there it is for are bacterial infections contagious. They can be, but it’s not something that happens often. That’s because most people don’t get into that proximity with others in the way that would be needed for transmission of a sinus infection. But if the bacteria are expelled from the nose via a sneeze, then it’s possible for people who aren’t nose-to-nose to get that same infection. And that can happen quite easily if a person’s sinus infection is causing them to sneeze a lot.  

Away for Days 

Viral infections can progress into bacterial infections, but once they do it’s uncommon for them to be transmitted to others. But a viral infection in its early stages is where you need to be concerned, even if that has no relevance to are bacterial sinus infections contagious. A person with a viral sinus infection may well be putting the virus out there every time they exhale. And viral infections are often worse. Look no further than COVID-19 if you need to be convinced of that. So, if you have one it’s best to stay away from others for a few days. 

Bacterial infections are caused when there’s bacteria overgrowth in the sinuses occurs to a massive extent, and if that’s going to happen for another person it is going to have to be because of them having the same stimulus for bacteria growth in the sinuses. There are many common bacterial infections, and for ones that manifest in the sinuses it’s usually because of a buildup of fluid or air in the sinus cavities. We’ve provided the explanation for are bacterial sinus infection contagious, and it’s primarily because they are internal in-nature that you won’t be spreading your infection to another person.  

That’s all we’ll say around is a bacterial sinus infection contagious. It very likely isn’t going to be, and with a course of treatment with antibiotics you should be back to normal in no time.