It’s that time of year when the cold and flu is traveling through the schools faster than the speed of light. Our family got hit pretty hard with the flu bug around Christmas… tis the season. One way to try and avoid getting germs is to wash your hands before you touch anything that will go towards your eyes or mouth. But sometimes catching the bug will happen no matter how much you try to protect yourself. We can help control the spread of germs by changing or being aware of how we sneeze. If it were up to my Mother, the only way to sneeze would be to pull the collar of your shirt up over your face to cover your nose and sneeze into the shirt to block everything… yes… I know, a little extreme but it actually works very well. For beginners, start by teaching the scouts how to sneeze into the crook of your arm or into a handkerchief. Use Mom’s method for the cubs with epic sneezes.

There are ongoing studies about how far a sneeze travels. Distances vary up to 200 feet, (according to MIT’s last study) with sneeze particles staying up in the air for up to 10 minutes… Gross!

One of my absolute favorite shows captured how much spray occurs when you sneeze.

I feel like I need some hand sanitizer now…