Landmark WHO paper suggests sharing your glass with a sick person DOESN'T ... trends now
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Sharing glasses and bottles of water with a sick friend or family member may not infect you with the common cold virus after all, World Health Organization experts have suggested in a landmark report.
New guidance by a coalition of nearly 50 doctors overturned the commonly believed idea that infected droplets transferred from hard surfaces and skin are the cause of respiratory viruses like colds and flu.
The decision settled a Covid-era debate about whether some viruses like Covid spread mostly through inhaling infected air, or from contaminated surfaces.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, experts in virology welcomed the conclusion that surfaces are not as vital as previously thought, which they say should have been confirmed early on in the pandemic.
Experts in virology spoke to DailyMail.com about the change, noting that the germs spread on surfaces, such as cups and even hands, do not contribute to the spread of lung infections like the cold and flu
The longstanding dogma among infectious disease experts and scientists was that droplets under five microns were airborne while droplets that were larger shot out like bullets and spread three to six feet
Dr Don Milton, an expert on respiratory viruses and co-author of the new WHO guidance, told DailyMail.com: We know that for gastrointestinal infections [hand washing and being careful touching surfaces like cups] are going to be important.
‘How important they are for respiratory viruses, I think is probably a lot
