Gag:Most People Sneeze into Bare Hands

If the following story doesn’t trip your gag reflex, nothing will.

It turns out that a group of medical school students decided to check out the sneezing and coughing habits of people at a train station, at a shopping mall and in a hospital in New Zealand.  The research took place at the end of the swine flu run, when the illness was internationally in the news every day.

The students found that  3 out of 4 people did try to cover their mouths when they coughed or sneezed – the problem is that 2 out of 3 of them used their bare hands to do it with.  This is of concern because when people touch ANYTHING after sneezing into their hands, they spread it.  Others touching the surface will then become infected.

In fact, according to the CDC, influenza, SARS, RSV and whooping cough are all spread through coughing or sneezing and having unclean hands.

The agency recommends the following “proper” means of sneezing/coughing hygiene:

*Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing
*Put used tissue in the waste basket
*If no tissue  is available, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow and not into your hands
*Wash hands carefully for a full 20 seconds with soap and warm water
*If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol based hand rub.