Dangerous Sneezing – 07/08/2021 – Julio Abramsic

In this time of cold days, a face mask and social distancing are essential. It is the period of sneezing, our body’s response to allergens and viruses to respiratory diseases.

In the June issue of Cell, Professor Chen Liu and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified the region in the brain of mice that triggers sneezing, as opposed to the region that controls breathing, both of which are connected to cells. . Neural.

Since sneezing can create 20,000 droplets of the virus, which remain in the air for up to ten minutes, Professor Liu explains, this is a way to prevent sneezing, which spreads disease.
Sneezing and its dangers have also attracted the attention of researchers in fields other than health.

In the Journal of Fluid Physics, Michael Kinzel and colleagues in the University of Central Florida’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering analyze the distance sneezing droplets travel and how long they stay in the air.

They found that in a blocked nose or oral cavity with all the teeth, the distance and the potential for the virus to spread increases.

Because the Covid-19 virus also spreads during sneezing in droplets, Kinzel notes that on a clean, obstruction-free nose, the speed and distance traveled by the droplets decrease.

One way to avoid a stuffy nose is to prevent the flu and take advantage of the current vaccination campaign to get the flu shot.

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