Achoo! Coughing and sneezing into hands is common, but isn’t right way to stop spread of germs
By Mike Stobbe, APMonday, July 12, 2010
Yuck: Few people correctly cover coughs, sneezes
ATLANTA — A new swine flu study finds that most people use their hands to stifle a cough or sneeze — an unsanitary practice that contributes to the spread of germs.
For a study in New Zealand last August, medical students secretly watched hundreds of people cough or sneeze at a train station, a shopping mall and a hospital.
Three of every four people tried to cover their cough or sneeze. But most of them used their hands to do it, rather than a tissue or sneezing into their elbow, as health officials recommend.
The study was presented Monday at an infectious diseases conference in Atlanta.
Online:
Conference: www.iceid.org/
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