Sneezy and Doc

Being caught in a blast when a friend sneezes is rarely pleasant. But thinking about the spread of viruses, what they’ve eaten recently might make a big difference. Using high-speed photography here, researchers capture liquid particles bursting from noses – in a rainbow timeline from purple (0 seconds) to white (0.5 seconds). Compared to a normal sneeze (top left) they found making saliva more viscous with food additives (top right, bottom left) changes a sneeze’s spread. Thicker mucus produces more large liquid droplets than small aerosol droplets. Aerosol droplets are more likely to carry small viral particles – like those from SARS-CoV-2 (cause of COVID-19) – and bob around in the air for longer. While wearing a mask (bottom right) confines a cough or sneeze, researchers believe future advice from doctors might be to avoid ‘cough drops’ which stimulate the release of excess saliva.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Jonathan Reyes, Douglas Fontes, Alexander Bazzi, Michelle Otero, Kareem Ahmed and Michael Kinzel
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Scientific Reports, August 2021