Gestation Afetr Exposure To A Contagious Disease

[joko]

such as colds, flu, tonsilitis etc

what is the average length of time it takes from exposure to the body showing symptoms of having a virus, or a bacterial infection?

does it vary much? or is there a general sort of figure?

just wondering because i hear people saying they feel ill and have caught from someone they were with the day before, and i thought that was probably too soon - but is it?
or is it more like weeks?

thanks

[Buenchico]

'Gestation' refers to the carrying of an embryo, not of an infectious disease!

You seem to be referring to the 'incubation period', which most definitely varies. See here:
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1064.aspx?CategoryID=200&;SubCategoryID=2001

However some diseases have far shorter incubation periods than those shown there. For seasonal influenza, for example, it's 1 to 4 days, with symptoms often appearing 2 to 3 days after infection. For the a common cold the incubation period is often around 2 days.

Many forms of food poisoning can result in symptoms, such as vomiting and diarrhoea, appearing within hours. If you have contact with a sufferer and their hygiene standards aren't high (e.g. if they prepare food for you without washing their hands thoroughly) you might well go down with food poisoning in well under a day.

[joko]

sorry yes i knew it was the wrong word but i couldnt think what it was, so just wrote that - i was 2am and i was flaking lol.

[crazyowl]

Incubation periods can vary enormously some things like food poisioning symptoms can appear in under an hour! Most illnesses can be 3- 10 days but there is a few that can be months. Some illnesses can also stay dormant in the body and flare up again if you come in contact with the disease again