# Can bad breath protect you from viruses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350 "2017-10-20T06:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/1 "2017-10-20T06:08:12Z")
My grand child noticed my bad breath, so before I had a dentist appointment I bought dental varnish and applied it. Not been sick for a couple of years, I caught a viral infection within 24 hours after covering up the cavity (and other teeth). Coincidence? Can bacteria fight viruses? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/2 "2017-10-20T14:38:33Z")
Only way I can see it helping is by driving people away from you before they can expose you to their airborne viruses. :dubious: And even that wouldn’t be very effective, because they can probably inoculate you before they can smell your breath. I really really hope. 😕 ETA: This is GQ, so I’m not joking. I’m no doctor, but I know of no medical mechanism that would reduce susceptibility to viral illnesses except by reducing exposure – by keeping people away from you. So, yeah, probably coincidence. (Or exposure to a dental professional with an undetected contagious case of a viral illness.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/3 "2017-10-20T15:31:47Z")
I am a doctor, and I concur, the only mechanism I see is as **gnoitall** (presumably derived from the word ‘Nom’, meaning “wise” in the tongue of the early Edain. Or perhaps not) describes, making virus-laden people avoid you. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/4 "2017-10-20T15:35:18Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Only way I can see it helping is by driving people away from you before they can expose you to their airborne viruses. :dubious: And even that wouldn’t be very effective, because they can probably inoculate you before they can smell your breath. I really really hope. 😕 > > ETA: This is GQ, so I’m not joking. I’m no doctor, but I know of no medical mechanism that would reduce susceptibility to viral illnesses except by reducing exposure – by keeping people away from you. > > So, yeah, probably coincidence. (Or exposure to a dental professional with an undetected contagious case of a viral illness.) More directly, viruses have no sense of smell. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/5 "2017-10-20T18:25:41Z")
I didn’t address it earlier, but OP has a suggested alternate mechanism: > [@komolono](#): > > Can bacteria fight viruses? I’ve never heard of bacteria impeding viral infection in any fashion. Unlike certain fungi which can impede bacterial infection (i.e., antibiotics, but I’ve also never heard of Pennicilium fungus infection either, so that’s also completely hypothetical.) As far as I know, bacteria and viruses co-exist just fine, unless the virus is a specific [bacteriophage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage), in which case it would have no interest in making you sick at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/6 "2017-10-20T20:03:34Z")
You probably caught it from tht grandchild, who was close enough to smell your breath. Young children are a common vector for such minor infections – they get them from other children in the classroom, and bring them home to their relatives. ---
**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/7 "2017-10-21T11:19:14Z")
I should have added that most of my mouth bacteria (good or bad) must have been killed, because this stuff is very heavy [https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.prevestdenpro.com/prevestadmin/files/2017410135955435.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwih9ePvy4HXAhWqKJoKHQ8MA-AQFghMMAo&usg=AOvVaw0YMmZDshY0bqK\_UBrNFTFR](https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.prevestdenpro.com/prevestadmin/files/2017410135955435.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwih9ePvy4HXAhWqKJoKHQ8MA-AQFghMMAo&usg=AOvVaw0YMmZDshY0bqK_UBrNFTFR) My mouth was numb for at least an hour afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-bad-breath-protect-you-from-viruses/799350/8 "2017-10-22T22:54:46Z")
[George Carlin]Silly, germs _have_ bad breath[/George Carlin]