One more reason not to pick your nose

PARIS - Parents exasperated by their children constantly ignoring pleas to stop picking their noses may have finally found an argument to break the habit: it might give you pneumonia.

Pneumococcus, the bacteria that causes pneumonia - a lung condition that can prove deadly if untreated - is known to spread through airborne droplets, often from the coughs and sneezes of infected individuals.

British scientists said on Thursday they had proved for the first time that the disease-causing bacteria can be transmitted manually via the nose and hands.