I spoke to my GP about whether it was advisable to wear a paper face mask, as so many Japanese seem to do, to avoid infections.

He told me that there was no evidence that this helped and that, on the contrary, they may make things worse because as you breathe through them they become moist and warm - the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. You'd need to be extremely fastidious about changing them frequently and disposing of them for it to be worthwhile. So probably more harm than good.

I forgot to ask whether there was a value in getting someone else who had an infection being asked to wear one to reduce the risk of cross-infection.

Face masks will protect you from 'splash', when other inconsiderate people cough and sneeze without covering their mouths and nose. To catch an airborne infection you need to be within one metre of an infected person, or droplets need to land on your face or your hands. The most common way of spreading infection is through touch. People are filthy and rarely clean their hands. Every time you touch anything you risk infecting yourself, yet I managed to avoid infections at my very sick workplace (and when travelling on train carriages full of very infected people) by following these simple measures:-

* Cleaning my workdesk, telephone, keyboard, mouse, screen and anything else I touched regularly at work with antibacterial spray/wipes every morning.
* Using antibacterial cleaner every time I touched anything including handrails, door handles, tables, walls, cutlery - I mean anything. After shaking hands (which I try and get out of) I clean my hands thoroughly.
* Wearing gloves as much as possible, especially when in public areas.

I did wear a facemask once which caused great consternation on the train carriage I was on. After the initial embarrassment it was quite amusing to see the looks of horror on my fellow passengers' faces. While they coughed and sneezed they wondered what I knew that they didn't lol. I reckon I caused a semi-panic :)

While the rest of my colleagues were dropping with swine flu and a variety of vile chest, throat and stomach infections (caused by unhygienic staff) I was as healthy as an ox. In fact, considering I'm on immune suppressants I'm currently the healthiest person in the office and have been for the last 3 years!

On holiday in Taiwan last year about half the people using the metro wore them. No one batted an eyelid there. People often wore home made ones too out of beautiful fabrics. Also the moped riders wore them but probable to ward of fumes. Not sure whether it works or not but I bet it reduces your chances of picking up a virus if worn for short periods....especially when people cough right at you as many seem to do. That's my view anyway.