Swine Flu Fears Lead to NYC Subway Fight

A fight broke out on a New York City subway after one woman asked another woman to cover her mouth while coughing.

According to Lawrence Delevingne, a writer with The Business Insider , who was on the train Monday morning, one woman, 5-foot-7-inches tall, slightly overweight and with dyed reddish blond hair, was coughing without covering her mouth. Another woman, 5-foot-2-inches tall, stocky, with blond hair in a slicked-back bun, was nearby and uncomfortable with the coughing.

The second woman asked the first woman to cover her mouth. But the first woman continued coughing. Words escalated the scenario.

Then as the train pulled into a stop the cougher spit on the first woman, which "[provoked] what sounded like a punch from the reaction of the crowd (we didn't directly see it)," wrote Delevingne . As the cougher tried to exit the train the second woman grabbed her and pulled her to the floor.

The two were separated and the cougher left the train, while the other woman screamed at her.

"I could have decked her too. That swine flu is treacherous," said a male witness according to the report.

Last week The Associated Press reported a fight broke out at a Reno, Nev., clinic that was giving shots for swine flu when someone reportedly tried to cut in line. A witness said that a man took a swing at a woman, then jumped on her and they fell to the ground. They left after a security guard broke up the fight.

Seeing others sneeze or cough, coupled with the anxiety surrounding the swine flu and seasonal flu, is influencing our views of the healthcare system and spending on flu research, according to a University of Michigan professor.

Ross School of Business professor Norbert Schwarz and colleagues conducted two experiments showing that actually seeing possible flu symptoms nearby heightens perceptions of risks and a general feeling that the world is a dangerous place.

"We found that exposure to public sneezing and coughing increased risk perception even for risks that are completely unrelated to the flu," said Schwarz in a statement about the report , which will be published in the journal Psychological Science.