You probably consider yourself a pretty healthy person. Like anyone else, you cover your mouth when you sneeze and, when you’re really sick, you try your hardest to keep your vomit contained to a toilet.
It’s gross, but you’re not giving your germs to anyone else, right?
Unfortunately, that couldn’t be any more wrong.
The show Gross Science looked into just how far germ particles travel after you sneeze, and the results are stomach-turning. In 2014, MIT researchers used high-speed cameras to capture how far sneeze droplets travel after a sneeze.
It turns out these sneeze droplets can travel way farther in all directions than we thought, and can even get caught in air vents, where they remain and linger long after you sneeze.
Of course, a similar study was done in the UK on vomit particles. Vomit particles travel much farther than human eyes can see, as it turns out. One episode of projectile vomit had particles that traveled almost 85 square feet.
These germs, just like the germs from the cold, can stay active for days. In fact, any germs that you sneeze or expel can last for days. This is why planes are such a hive for colds and flu, because people sneeze on them, and there’s nowhere for germs to go but to stay in the plane.
So if you want to protect yourself from the spread of these germs, you actually don’t have to do very much. Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and encourage others to do the same.
Germs are everywhere, so it’s impossible to avoid all of them. But limiting the spray is the least we can do for one another.
