I’ve just completed my annual flu review in preparation for
the upcoming season. As I consider the
relative merits of preventive strategies, I’m reminded of all the various ways
in which people, rather less than more, cover their mouths while coughing or
sneezing. One patient coughed weakly
but wetly in the general direction of his hand located more than a foot away
from his mouth. My sweet 8 year old
granddaughter coughed into her hand with fingers spread wide, droplets spraying
through the gaps. Another patient simply
gave up hygiene altogether as she demoed her cough for me by doing just that,
coughing directly into the space in front of her in which I happened to be
standing (yes, I did get sick from that one).
So here we go again, sharing air with our colleagues while
trying to neither inhale their airborne sputum nor send our own into
space. For an amusing tutorial on
sneeze/cough technique, check out "Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves?"
