Ask a doctor on the topic of General medicine

GI after stomach bug

February 19, 2014 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Hello,

last Friday, my wife got a stomach bug and vomited twice in the morning around 4 and 8 o'clock, I had diarrhea and stomach pain all day. We managed to somewhat recover over the weekend and she unfortunately went back to work at the daycare on Monday, where currently 70% of the children are suffering from diarrhea and vomiting and are absent. During the meeting on Tuesday, she felt extremely nauseous again for half an hour and was on the verge of vomiting, indicating that the virus was still present. However, she stayed home today and will likely do so tomorrow as well. Today we have no more symptoms, maybe just a bit of heartburn, and we are eating normally again. My question is more general: When is it safe to exchange affection after a virus infection? When can I kiss her again, when can we have sex without the risk of re-infection? I ask because I am not sure if I also had a stomach bug and have had a fear of vomiting for 10 years.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good evening,

It all depends on the virus... Some last only one or two days, others (e.g. the Rota virus) can even last for several weeks.

As long as you are still experiencing slight nausea and heartburn, and as long as your appetite has not returned, I would recommend refraining from kissing and sex (cuddling is of course allowed). However, I suspect that you will be completely healthy again by the weekend at the latest. Then you can kiss again, and sex will be enjoyable and not cause any mutual infection.

Please do not eat anything too fatty, spicy, hot, or overcooked.

All the best to both of you!

Warm regards, Dr. Höllering, specialist in internal and general medicine