Seeing sick people ignites your body's defenses

[Bruce Nunnally]

Is it good for your health to see me coughing, sneezing and blowing my runny nose? Believe it or not, recent research suggests that the answer might be: Yes.

Of course, it's not good for your health if I sneeze right into your face. You're better off not being exposed to all those disease-causing microbes in the first place. But if you are exposed to those microbes, your immune system is going to have to fight them off; and it may fight them off more aggressively if you've just been looking at people who look diseased. That's the implication of some new results published by scientists at the University of British Columbia.

Read more: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201004/the-psychological-immune-system

So it appears that merely looking at people who look sick does help your immune system prevent you from getting sick yourself.