Sneezing Spreads Bacteria Far and Wide

Anyone interested in the most efficient way to spread staphylococcus aureus, a disease-causing microbe that many people carry in their nose? It’s as easy as sneezing, according to a recent study reported in the Scientific American and written up in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. The research measured airborne dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus in 11 healthy S. aureus carriers before and after histamine-induced sneezing, and before and during experimentally induced colds. Sneezing increased the airborne dispersal of S. aureus,
CoNS, and other bacteria by up to nearly fivefold.
Curiously, while having a cold did not influence bacterial dispersal, having a respiratory allergy increased S. aureus spread during sneezing by almost fourfold. Read more in Sciam.