Conjunctivitis is very contagious. They can easily spread from person to person in a variety of ways, including through hand-to-eye contact with infectious, virus-infected objects, touching infectious tears, and eye discharge. If you get pink eye from bacteria, you're contagious while you're sick or for about 24 to 48 hours after starting antibiotics. If you get pink eye from a virus, you're contagious for the duration of your symptoms, which are usually several days.