India, March 21 -- We saw it during the pandemic, the fear that a simple sound can engender. Nothing felt more alarming than a nearby cough.

The sneeze has a similar history. In English, Polish, German, Spanish and a range of other Western languages, the ghosts of ancient plagues live on. When a person goes "achoo", we say "bless you" or "salud" or "gesundheit", all of which translate to: "to your health".

But often, other wishes follow.

Sneeze a second time, and the wish one receives in Spanish is: dinero (money); three sneezes meets with amor (love); four or more with alergias (allergies), usually followed by laughter, because health, money and love are obviously more desirable than allergies.

But anything is better than illness, so...