Maybe Sneezing Doesn't Spread Colds After All

[gottasneeze1]

Hi, I was looking through a book called "Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold" by Jennifer Ackerman, which is all about colds and studies of them, when I found something that I thought was particularly interesting. Here's a quote-

"There is little evidence that coughs and sneezes actually produce an aerosol that spreads infection, says Winther. "With a sneeze, you feel a tickle in the nose, then there's a high-pressure expelling of air, along with secretions from a pool at the front of the mouth- not the nose," she says. And since saliva harbors little or no cold virus, aerosolized saliva initiated by a sneeze is unlikely to spread infection. In fact, when investigators sampled air for virus in a room that housed volunteers heavy with cold, they found no virus even though 82 percent of the air was sampled. Moreover, when volunteers coughed and sneezed directly onto a surface designed for virus detection, the researchers recovered virus from only 2 out of 25 sneezes."

What do you guys make of it? You can see more of the book on Google Books.

[Chanel_no5]

You could hope it's true (at least when you're a germaphobe like me), but I for one believe that's bullshit, frankly.

[TheCakeIsAlive]

For some people it's probably true that they only expel fluid from their mouth but I believe that certainly with colds there tends to be at least a little portion via the nose, so my scepticism starts at that.

... but of course that's only based on reading that bit an no further research so not more than a poorly-founded opinion I'm afraid.

[Vetinari]

Actually I suspect there is more viral spread by people wiping away nasal discharge and spreading it around on their fingers. Tests a long time ago demonstrated that there wasn't a huge amount of spread between people sharing airspace with others, it was only when they started to hand things around (I think playing cards was what they did) that the infectins started to spread properly.

[Helter Skelter]

There's a reason that one of the best ways to prevent colds is to not touch your face and to wash your hands often. Typically you introduce the virus to your respiratory tract when you rub your eyes or something with contaminated fingers, not by breathing the same air as someone who is sick.

[count tiszula]

Actually I suspect there is more viral spread by people wiping away nasal discharge and spreading it around on their fingers. Tests a long time ago demonstrated that there wasn't a huge amount of spread between people sharing airspace with others, it was only when they started to hand things around (I think playing cards was what they did) that the infectins started to spread properly.

The saintly Lovelock discovered this when he worked at the famous Salisbury cold research centre. They had collected schoolchiildren with colds from local schools, and since this was not long after the war I suspect they just "conscripted" the sneeziest children.

Arguably, therefore, sneezing openly and uncovered is the healthiest way; and while some more powerful sneezers [or those who stifle ] may produce mess or materiel of both kinds, girlier sneezes often produce only benign, healthy spray............mmmmm!

I've got that book, I think; just couldn't resist the title...

[Lalaith]

I´m not sure, if I should believe this book. I do think that the saliva is contagious.

Maybe you will think that I´m really weird, but I will run the risk

Many years ago I did an experiment with a friend. She had a cold and we wanted to know, if the saliva is contagious and how long it will take to infect me. We drank from the same cup and some days later I also got a cold.

Okay, it is not really scientific and of course we didn´t do it in triplicates