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Amid flu France kissing goodbye to 'la bise'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-08 11:43 Other countries have also cracked down on kissing. In April, the Health Minister in Lebanon -- a former French colony that retains many cultural mores from its past ruler -- urged people to avoid a similar cheek-kissing custom there. Around the same time, Mexico -- then the epicenter of the flu crisis -- also urged people not to kiss each other on the cheek.
The virus is airborne and is easily transmitted when people cough or sneeze. Most cases are mild and don't require treatment to get better. Outside Paul Baudry elementary school near Paris' Champs-Elysees, some parents expressed concern about flu, though school officials said they don't want to call for a bise ban just yet. "I've told him to keep a safe distance from other students, though I'm not sure he obeys me," said Marina Ristic, 30, as she pecked the cheek of her 7-year-old son Andrea, then squirted his hands with anti-bacterial gel as she picked him up after school. "I'm a bit worried, that's why I carry this stuff." Magali Pouget, another parent outside the school, said her employer -- the big Paris department store chain Printemps -- has instructed its staffers to avoid shaking hands or exchanging bises. "I'm cautious, but so much has been made of swine flu in the media that we're pretty well aware of what to do," she said. "It's probably just as well that we do too much than too little."
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