https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320690.phpThe above article debunks the popular myth that you have to sneeze, cough, touch, or even talk to transmit the flu.
I tend to think the ears are a majorly unrealized path to airborn transmission:
You might not suspect that as much because of how ears don't typically inhale and eject mass amounts of air at once (although they can breathe a little), and how viruses aren't supposed to translocate on their lonesome. Closing yours ears isn't as easy as closing your mouth, however, and you have control of the airflow in your nose, while ears are left to their own devices. It makes sense that pathogens would target ears as a primary source of infection, especially as people talk right into them a lot. A person speaking behind you could also target your ears easily.
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