Cold and flu season is starting off strong worldwide, with stuffy noses and sore throats plaguing millions of people.

If you’re one of the people affected by an autumnal sniffle, you might be wondering when you’re most likely to spread it to those around you (there’s nothing worse than being the sole recovering person in a cold-ridden household).

Unfortunately, the NHS says colds are “easily spread to other people” and will be contagious “until all your symptoms have gone”. 

But according to Medline Plus, a health information site run by the National Library of Medicine (which is part of the National Institutes of Health), you’re more contagious some days than others.

When are you most contagious with a cold?

“People are most contagious for the first two to three days of a cold,“Medline Plus says.

“A cold is most often not contagious after the first week,” they add ― but if you’re showing symptoms, the risk is still there.

It usually takes two to three days after you come into contact with a cold virus to develop symptoms, they add, and colds are often spread by sneezing, coughing, and even blowing your nose (especially before you touch a commonly-used surface like a doorknob).

So it makes sense to start washing your hands with water and soap, trapping sneezes with thick tissue, and binning used tissues ASAP the second you start to feel a tickle in your throat or pressure in your sinuses.

Disinfecting any surfaces you touch and using disposable paper towels instead of sharing a towel can help too, as can good ol’ isolation (if possible).

“A person with a cold can start spreading it from a few days before their symptoms begin until the symptoms have finished,” the NHS adds, so it’s important to keep washing your hands and following good flu prevention hygiene all the time.

What can I do to prevent catching a cold in the first place?

Exercise and a decent diet can help to keep your immune system healthy, the NHS says.

Additionally, washing your hands often, keeping your fingers away from your eyes and nose just in case you’ve touched the virus, and not sharing things like cups, cutlery and kids’ toys with someone who’s got a cold can help. 

Still, colds might simply happen regardless of how much preventative graft you put in ― in which case you should rest, drink plenty of liquid, and breathe in steam to unblock a stuffy nose.