Cover Your Mouth! One Sneeze Can Infect 10% of People Around You
The tall woman with dyed reddish blond hair coughed loudly without covering her mouth. The shorter woman with a slicked-back bun wasn’t happy about it. They were riding the southbound D train near Rockefeller Center during morning rush hour in New York City this week. A single cough quickly turned into an argument. “You need to cover your mouth,” bun-woman reportedly said. “I don’t want swine flu.”
The war of words flared up quickly, according to a reporter for The Business Insider (who witnessed the altercation). Eventually, coughing-woman spit on bun-woman. Then someone threw a punch. In the end, coughing-woman tried to get off the train at 42nd Street, but bun-woman pulled her down to the ground by the hair.
“I could have decked her too,” said a male witness. “That swine flu is treacherous.” *****
Treacherous, indeed. In fact, if more people were aware of the contagion of single sneeze (or cough), there would probably be a lot more fistfights around the world.
One single sneeze propels 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on subway strap handles, door knobs, ATM keypads, elevator buttons, escalator railings, and grocery carts. [more...]