What is the average speed of human sneeze?

Question

I sneeze a lot, at various times and various "volumes", and often wonder about the speed of the sneeze itself, i.e. the speed of the air coming out of the nose while sneezing.What is the average speed of that, in humans? Are there any records for such a thing?

Answer 1

Interesting question! In short, the "speed" or velocity of a sneeze depends on what is ejected during the sneeze. One experiment from Lydia Bourouiba's lab at MIT showed that individual particles can move up to 14 m/s (about 30 mph) and that "ligaments" or strings of mucus can move even faster, up to 35 m/s (about 80 mph). Not only is this interesting, but it's actually really important to the world. Sneezes are one of the primary ways that viruses like the flu or ebola are spread, and knowing how far and how fast those virus particles travel can help public health workers and doctors track, manage, and prevent disease outbreaks.

On a more fun note, some sneezing related records I found (but haven't verified) are for the loudest sneeze (Yi Yang, who sneezed at 176 decibels, louder than a gunshot) and the longest sneezing fit (Donna Griffiths, who had a sneezing fit for 976 days).