I'm on the train, crowded subway car here in Chicago, and the guy next to me is sneezing and coughing and I don't want to get sick.

So I find myself, I'm sort of pulling up my shirt and covering my mouth and I realize I don't

actually know if this is doing anything. On the line with this now is Kelly

Dixon. She's an infection prevention and control specialist at the

Mayo Clinic in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. So Kelly, am I making any difference at all?

Very little. Depending on what your shirt was made of, we'll assume that it was cotton or some sort of a cotton blend.

It actually, it could hold some germs and be a mild mild barrier so you could have done something but also then

it's also going to harbor the bacteria from your breath in and out so in the

long run it's probably just as detrimental as it is positive.

Okay, Kelly, so if a shirt isn't going to block germs, like a regular cotton shirt,

is there any other kind of fabric though that is better at protecting us from germs?

Well, certainly in the hospital and health care we have the masks that are specifically designed for that. But in terms of an article of

clothing I'm unaware of anything that's manufactured that's like an antibacterial

shirt. But no one wants to be the guy who's wearing the mask. So here's a question.

Could I make a shirt out of a bunch of masks?

Nobody wants to be that guy either.

That would be hideous.

But I think I want people to run in the other direction. I think that's part of the goal.

It's good to have a goal.

The truth is, though, in a very recent copy of the American Journal of Infection Prevention,

there was an article said that if somebody sneezed and didn't cover their mouth,

those bacteria and germs could travel like a 30 to 40 feet so probably anywhere on the train you're going to be just as germ filled

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