“Coughs and sneezes spread diseases” is a frequent public health campaign saying that has been printed on many images. “A Careless Sneeze Will Spread Disease. Use a Handkerchief If You Please” was printed in the New York (NY) Times on December 11, 1915. “Sneezes spread diseases” was printed in The Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY) on February 7. 1917.
 
“Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases” was printed in The Diamond Drill (Crystal Falls, MI) on October 5, 1918, and in many other newspapers this month, in a national campaign against the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu).
   
“Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases” was a slogan used in a 1943 British Ministry of Information newsreel trailer.
   
     
11 December 1915, New York (NY) Times, pg. 17, col. 2:
PRIZES FOR SNEEZE POSTERS
Twenty-four Cash Awards Given to Public School Artists.
Twenty-four cash prizes were awarded yesterday to pupils in elementary schools for poster designs to be used by the Bureau of Public Health and Hygiene of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the poor in its “Watch Your Sneeze” campaign. There were 500 contestants for the prizes. With the slogan, “Sneeze Spread Diseases, Coughs Fill Coffins, Use a Handkerchief,” the health poster contest was initiated with the cooperation of the Department of Education as an opening Wedge in a novel educational campaign against the menace of unguarded sneezing in the transmission of respiratory diseases.
 
Delicate pastels, strong water colors, charcoal, crayon, ink, and pencil suggest the versatility of the youthful competitors, while in the drawings surprising originality was shown. It is in the lettering for the posters that the youthful ingenuity of the school children was most apparent. Typical captions to be read were: “A Sneeze Behind, (a handkerchief,) Saves Nine,” “Block That Sneeze! Interference Does It! Use a Handkerchief,” “Smother Your Sneeze in a Handkerchief,” “A Careless Sneeze Will Spread Disease. Use a Handkerchief If You Please,” “Uneeda Handkerchief 2 Sneeze in.”
 
Newspapers.com
15 December 1915, Pittson (PA) Gazette, pg. 8, col. 3:
“WATCH YOUR SNEEZE!” IS CRY IN NEW YORK SCHOOLS
“Use a Handkerchief,” Children Told. “Careless Sneezes Spread Diseases.”
(Same article as above.—ed.)
 
Newspapers.com
7 February 1917, The Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY), pg. 6, col. 4:
DEATH RATE GOES UP; BEWARE OF SNEEZES
(...)
Here is the warning issued by the Department of Health in to-day’s bulletin: “Beware the person who has a cold, for all colds are catching. See that your neighbor covers up each cough and sneeze. Sneezes spread diseases.”
   
Newspapers.com
21 March 1918, Pittsburgh (PA) Post, pg. 1, right masthead:
GOOD MORNING!
Every time you cough or sneeze
You spread disease upon the breeze,
So kindly note this timely wheeze,
And exercise your hanky, please.
 
Newspapers.com
5 October 1918, The Diamond Drill (Crystal Falls, MI), “Uncle Sam’s Advice on Flu,” pg. 13, col. 1:
Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases
 
Newspapers.com
26 January 1942, The Manchester Guardian (Manchester, UK), pg. 1, col. 1 ad:
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.
(Milton, a commercial product.—ed.)
 
Newspapers.com
10 December 1943, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), “U.K. Deaths in Current Flu Wave Now Are Estimated At 400 Weekly,” pg. 1, col. 3:
The epidemic even resulted in a week’s illness for Health Minister Henry Willink whose department sponsors the poster slogan ‘Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases.”
   
OCLC WorldCat record
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases : winter woes
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: SA pharmaceutical journal, v62 n4 (Apr 1995):133-134,136-137
Summary:
Distinguishes between influenza and the common cold, covering symptoms, complications, and treatment. Illustrates with a sketch and tables
   
OCLC WorldCat record
Coughs and sneezes - “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases. Trap the germs in your handkerchief” : a lateral view
Author: E Prentice
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: The Southern African journal of epidemiology & infection, v24 n4 (Dec 2009):54
Summary:
Traces the history of infection control promotion to the greater public in poster form against the background of the current influenza pandemic.
     
YouTube
From the Archive: Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases
Nov 9, 2010
Imperial War Museums
A 1943 British Ministry of Information newsreel trailer encouraging people to use a handkerchief to stop the spread of diseases. IWM NPB 13328
 
Google Books
Atlas of Epidemic Britain:
A Twentieth Century Picture
By Matthew Smallman-Raynor and Andrew Cliff
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2012
Pg. 98:
One of the most enduring of the publicity campaigns was the Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases campaign, launched in late 1942 with a view to controlling the wartime spread of the common cold and other respiratory infections (Figure 6.37).
     
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From the Archive: Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases https://youtu.be/W728NGYhmmQ via
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From the Archive: Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases
A 1943 British Ministry of Information newsreel trailer encouraging people to use a handkerchief to stop the spread of diseases. IWM NPB 13328 Explore IWM’s ...
youtube.com
3:48 PM · Feb 8, 2020·Twitter Web App
 
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williemillersmoustache
@williemillersm1
Famous proverbs still relevant today:
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.
&
He who runs and hides in fridges, should stfu about impossible bridges.
#PoliticsLive
7:15 AM · Feb 10, 2020·Twitter for Android
 
HuffPost
How Does Coronavirus Spread? We Explain The Basics
If you know how these types of virus spread, you have a better chance of protecting yourself against the current outbreak.
By Natasha Hinde
10/02/2020 03:10pm GMT
(...)
Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at University of East Anglia, reiterates this, telling HuffPost UK coronaviruses are spread largely by droplets in the air. As the old saying goes: “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.”