Sneezing and coughing into hands may hinder rather than help prevent the spread of 'flu according to a leading Sydney University epidemiologist.
According to Associate Professor Guy Eslick, official Health Department posters which highlight the practice of covering the nose and mouth with the hands when sneezing and coughing is not best practice 'flu prevention.
"I was surprised to see similar posters on buses and trains showing coughing into hands as an acceptable method of transmission prevention," Associate Professor Eslick wrote in a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States recommended the practice of coughing or sneezing into your sleeve if a tissue was not available, he said. This advice was reflected on their public education posters.
"I am sure that coughing or sneezing into the hands assists in the spread of 'flu, either through direct contact or by contact with fomites," he wrote. Fomites are any inanimate object or substance capable of carrying infectious organisms.
The NSW Health website offers similar advice to the CDC.
1. Cover your face when you cough or sneeze and throw used tissues in a rubbish bin.
2. Cover your face when you cough or sneeze and throw used tissues in a rubbish bin.
3. Cough into your elbow if you don't have a tissue.
However, Associate Professor Eslick says these messages are not reflected in their posters from the 2012 prevention campaign.
A spokesman for NSW Health said the 2013 flu prevention campaign posters had "not been released because they had not been developed yet."
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You can make an appointment online with a GP for a 'flu vaccine.
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