A Peculiar Way to Prevent Covid

Before I begin, I would just like to say that there needs to be much more research done on my theory. With that said, I would like to talk about how my family, meaning my wife and step daughter, caught Covid-19 but I did not for some reason – and that the weird way of fending off Covid that I experienced is that last thing one might think. I have a syndrome called 22q11.2 deletion, also known as Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome (VCFS). Two of the side effects of this syndrome for me are that my right nostril is more narrow than my left and that I was born with a partial pharyngeal flap (which is in your throat). It took four surgeries when I was sixteen years old for the doctors to fix it. Because of this, the holes that I have in the back of my throat are smaller, meaning things like airborne germs may have more of a difficult time penetrating my system when I breathe. The same goes for my nose. The side effects of this syndrome that I have act as a mask in a way.

For those who don’t have VCFS (thankfully for you), I have another plan: sneeze more. When I get into the shower, I make myself sneeze four times in a row. I’ve always thought that sneezing actually helps get bacteria out of your body. It turns out that I’m right. According to Dr. Neil Kao, an allergy and asthma specialist at the Allergic Disease and Asthma Center in Greenville, SC: “Sneezing helps keep your body safe. Sneezing is an important part of the immune process, helping keep us healthy and sniffle-free. Sneezes protect your body by clearing the nose of bacteria and viruses. When something enters your nose or you encounter a trigger that sets off your ‘sneeze center’ in your brain, located in the lower brain stem, signals are rapidly sent to tightly close your throat, eyes, and mouth. Next, your chest muscles vigorously contract, and then your throat muscles quickly relax. As result, air – along with saliva and mucus – is forced out of your mouth and nose. Voila, you’ve sneezed.

So, in conclusion, maybe we should all sneeze a little bit more to help ward off Covid-19 – into a tissue, of course.