????假設(shè)你在香港擠公交車，現(xiàn)在是流感季節(jié)，而你不想生病。“看看周圍，”司徒博士建議，“如果有人咳嗽，離他遠(yuǎn)點(diǎn)就行了！哈哈！至少保持一米的距離！如果你看到有人表現(xiàn)出流感的癥狀，那就閃人！”

????如果有人正好對著你的臉打了個(gè)噴嚏，那該怎么辦呢？“遇到這種情況，你得記住一點(diǎn)，”司徒博士說，“沒有什么細(xì)菌是能在接觸到你的一剎那就讓你患病的。只有電視上的東西才會(huì)那么夸張，比如恐怖科幻片《幽浮魔點(diǎn)》（The Blob），上面描述的那種細(xì)菌能讓人瞬間融化。醫(yī)學(xué)當(dāng)中有個(gè)詞叫‘潛伏期’；病毒需要潛入你的身體，它需要以正確的方式附著在細(xì)胞上，然后自我復(fù)制。要是有人對著我的臉咳嗽，我怎么辦？沒事！洗臉，洗臉，再洗臉！別的什么都不用做！”

????至于戴口罩防病，“我不推薦這種方法?！彼就讲┦空f。首先得選對口罩，要雙層的，里層能透氣，外層能防水。（“告訴你吧，你去公交車?yán)锟淳椭懒耍枚嗳硕即麇e(cuò)口罩了?！保┐骺谡謺r(shí)要把嘴巴、鼻子都遮住。（“要戴眼鏡。”）不能整天都戴同一個(gè)口罩。（“你得記住，戴上口罩在外面轉(zhuǎn)了一圈之后，口罩就變臟了。要是不會(huì)變臟，那我們還戴它做什么？”) 脫下來的時(shí)候要非常、非常的小心。（“要是你戴著口罩出去，路上有患病的人，那么這個(gè)口罩就會(huì)沾上病菌。你一碰到它，病菌就跑到手上去了?！保?/p>

????司徒博士承認(rèn)，關(guān)于最后要提的這個(gè)事實(shí)，雖然也不是沒有爭議，但他的立場是堅(jiān)定的：“我們現(xiàn)在基本上認(rèn)為，如果一個(gè)人沒有癥狀，就可以視為尚未感染?！币簿褪钦f只要你沒打噴嚏，就算感覺身體不適，也不會(huì)威脅到其他人。

????好吧，假如一個(gè)人身體真的很不舒服，又咳嗽、又流鼻涕、又打噴嚏的，那么是不是應(yīng)該至少戴個(gè)口罩呢？別的不說，至少在擁擠的公交車?yán)镆苍摓槠渌丝拖胂氚?？“如果你病了，”司徒博士說著，咧開嘴笑了，“那就老老實(shí)實(shí)在家里呆著?！狈浅：唵?。

????譯者：Nasca

????Say you're on a crowded Hong Kong bus, it's flu season, and you don't want to get sick. "Look around," Dr. Seto advises. "If someone is coughing, just stay away from that guy! Hah-hah! At least one meter! If you see someone with symptoms, move away!"

????And if by chance someone sneezes in your face? "This you must believe me," Dr. Seto says. "There is no bacteria on earth that clobbers you the moment it touches you. That's TV. The Blob, the guy melted right away. There is something in medicine called the incubation period. The virus needs to get into you; it needs to attach the right way, multiply. Someone coughs in my face, what do I do? No problem! Wash, wash, wash, wash! That's all you need to do!"

????As for wearing a mask to protect yourself, "I would not recommend it," Dr. Seto says. You need the right kind of mask, first of all, one with two layers. Absorbent side in, waterproof side out. ("I tell you, if you go to the bus you see all these idiots wearing it the wrong way.") You need to cover your mouth and your nose. ("And wear spectacles.") You don't want to wear the same mask all day. ("It's good practice to say once you put it on, consider it dirty. If it's not dirty, why are you wearing it?") And be very, very careful when you take it off. ("If you're infectious and I'm wearing a mask, now the mask is infectious. I touch it and it's on my hands.")

????Last fact. Well, not an undisputed fact. There is still some debate about this, Dr. Seto allows, but his own view is firm: "Generally we now believe that if you have no symptoms, you can be considered not infectious." Meaning as long as you're not sneezing, even if you don't feel quite right, you're not a threat to others.

????Okay but let's say you really are sick. Runny, slobbery, sneezy sick. Can we at least agree that then you should wear a mask? If for no other reason than to protect your fellow passengers on that crowded bus? "If you are sick," says Dr. Seto, grinning, "stay home." Very simple.