A sneeze related question in my Physiology Class

[20andsickfic]

Hello Everyone! 

I don't normally post on the general discussion page. However I was doing some free response questions for my physiology class and my teacher included one about sneezing and colds. So obviously I felt it would be appropriate to share it here. (I will admit as someone who likes illness and contagion this was a fun question to answer). 

Question: 

Are common colds spread mostly through sneezes? Explain why and why not?

Common colds are spread through sneezes. This is a powerful way of spreading cold germs. When you sneeze it is like a projectile release of droplets that contain the viruse. A powerful sneeze can eject germs from your nose at a rate up to 100 mph. The respiratory droplets get into the air and on surfaces and can be spread a very far distance. However, sneezing is not the only way to spread cold germs. They can also be spread by coughing which also spread droplets into the air  at a rate up to 100 mph (depending on how forceful the cough is). Other methods that can spread a cold are touching surfaces or another person's hand that has the cold virus on it and then touching your eyes, mouth or nose. This introduces the pathogen into your body and this can make you sick.   

[Barbie]

Very educative. Thanks for sharing. Did you feel uncomfortable during this section in your class? Because I would cringe the entire time lol

[muskysneeze]

As someone who's a big fan of contagion and sneeze mist/spray, I LOVE reading about the transmission and spread of a sneeze cloud. Though gosh, if i had to sit in class and present or discuss about it with the lecturer or other students', i'd die ><

I can't even say the word "sneeze" out loud in front of people without feeling really awkward and weird.

[solitaire-au]

Lydia Bourouiba is a mathematician and fluid dynamicist who studies this in her lab at MIT.

It was widely believed that large droplets from a sneeze only traveled 1-2 metres and then quickly fall to the ground, and smaller droplets would stay in the air as aerosols.

https://www.nature.com/articles/534024a

Their video evidence shows large droplets from a sneeze can travel up to 8 metres (6 metres for a cough) depending on environmental conditions, and stay suspended for up to 10 minutes; far enough and long enough to reach the other end of a large room, or enter a ventilation system.

https://scienceworld.scholastic.com/issues/2016-17/021317/sneeze-scientist.html?language=english

[AceUpYourSleeve]

1 hour ago, solitaire-au said:

Lydia Bourouiba is a mathematician and fluid dynamicist who studies this in her lab at MIT.

It was widely believed that large droplets from a sneeze only traveled 1-2 metres and then quickly fall to the ground, and smaller droplets would stay in the air as aerosols.

https://www.nature.com/articles/534024a

Their video evidence shows large droplets from a sneeze can travel up to 8 metres (6 metres for a cough) depending on environmental conditions, and stay suspended for up to 10 minutes; far enough and long enough to reach the other end of a large room, or enter a ventilation system.

https://scienceworld.scholastic.com/issues/2016-17/021317/sneeze-scientist.html?language=english

Welp, that would render my diving technique in public useless; hardly any way to avoid coming in contact with the sneezed output. But thanks for sharing, it's still fascinating to read about!

[20andsickfic]

On 3/27/2024 at 8:59 PM, Barbie said:

Very educative. Thanks for sharing. Did you feel uncomfortable during this section in your class? Because I would cringe the entire time lol

I was lucky it was just a discussion I turned into the professor. I didn’t have to talk about it in class or with other students.

[20andsickfic]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:57 AM, muskysneeze said:

As someone who's a big fan of contagion and sneeze mist/spray, I LOVE reading about the transmission and spread of a sneeze cloud. Though gosh, if i had to sit in class and present or discuss about it with the lecturer or other students', i'd die ><

I can't even say the word "sneeze" out loud in front of people without feeling really awkward and weird.

I got lucky and only had to turn this into the professor. If it was during class I would of been very uncomfortable