The conventional wisdom seems to be that you raise your upper arm to cover your nose and mouth, a maneuver also known as the "Dracula sneeze." (Note to Count Dracula: Time to send that cape to the cleaners.)
But here's the problem. Coughing or sneezing into your sleeve seems, well, kinda nasty.
And there is this: A few months ago, after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius chided a reporter for sneezing into his hand at a news conference, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh pooh-poohed the practice.
"Elitist snobs advising us...
| This story has expired! You can purchase the full text in our news archives. |
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.
In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.
Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines.
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
0
Why to use the elbow cough - 2009-11-01 23:28:21
Most people do not have the tissue handy. Research shows that there is a reduction in the spread of germs when you cough/sneeze into the crook of your elbow (as opposed to anywhere else), thus a reduction in the incidence of colds/flus. There is a reason the experts at HHS and the CDC are recommending it. Once on the clothing in the elbow, the germs are less likely to spread everywhere else. If you have kids, there is a great program out called Germy Wormy that teaches them in a fun and entertaining way how to do this- and there is a great DVD that instructs them proper hygiene tequiques, and the proper way to do the elbow cough!
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Mary Moran - San Francisco, CA - Karma: Neutral
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.