Abstract
Colds are transmitted primarily through hand-to-hand contact, not through airborne particles, at least when rhinoviruses and respiratory syncytial viruses are involved, according to investigators at the University of Virginia ( Ann Intern Med 1978;88:463-467; J Pediatr 1981;99:100-103; Am J Epidemiol 1982;116:828-833). Respiratory viruses theoretically can be transmitted in three ways: small particle aerosols (primarily from coughing), large particle aerosols (coughing and sneezing), and direct or indirect contact with objects contaminated with virus. Transmission starts with viral shedding, most commonly from nasal secretions. Cold viruses are ten to 100 times more prevalent in the nasal than in the pharyngeal mucosa. Knowing this, J. Owen Hendley, MD, and Jack M. Gwaltney, Jr, MD, both of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, began to doubt that airborne particles expelled from nasal secretions could be the primary means of transmission. They set up a series of experiments, alternately testing the three likely transmission routes ( J Respir
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