Published: January 17, 2017 | Updated: September 19, 2024
It happens to all of us — that unexpected sneeze that escapes before you have time to grab a tissue and cover your mouth. Well, you just sent 40,000 droplets of saliva, mucus and germs traveling 200 miles per hour as far as 11 feet! Yep. Even a quick sneeze into the crook of your arm can send particles 8 feet.
Think of how many surfaces you just covered with your germs. If you’re sick, viruses in those droplets can live on surfaces for hours or days.
To avoid spreading cold and flu viruses through sneezes (or coughs), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some good pointers on how to sneeze or cough properly:
1. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
2. Put your used tissue in a waste basket. (Don’t try to be frugal and get two uses out of one tissue.)
3. Wash with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands.
My husband shakes his head about all the tissue boxes around our house, but what he doesn’t understand is I’m keeping him healthy.
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