# Is mastitis contagious?



## momtoS (Apr 12, 2006)

Check out this link:
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/sympto...-causes-7b.htm

If the patient has mastitis:
❑ Isolate the patient and her infant to prevent the spread of infection to other nursing mothers. Explain mastitis to the patient and why isolation is necessary.


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## Vanishing Word (Mar 15, 2008)

I'm not really sure why isolation would be helpful. Simple abx and proper draining of the breast will resolve the matter quickly. It would be extremely difficult to pass mastitis, and unless you go about rubbing your breast on door knobs I hypothesis that isolation is unwarranted.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

This likely comes from advice back in the 50s and 60s when mastitis was a hospital acquired infection and more than a few babies died of staph infections. What happened was one baby would get sick, but because they were all kept in a central nursery and cared for by a few nurses, the nurses would spread the bacterial infection to all the babies, who would then give it to their mothers, who would get mastitis.

I read a neat article written by a public health doc in California in the 50s or early 60s about one of these outbreaks that had a really high mortality. His recommendations? Babies should room-in with mothers and nobody should provide routine care to the baby except the mother. He said that mothers should know that as soon as a health care provider touches their baby, they are putting them at risk! (He also recommended hand washing...)


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## Jacksmum8 (Mar 7, 2006)

From what I understand Mastitis is about as contagious as a sinus infection.


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