Do we have different medical books

I've been a bit sick recently, so I haven't been on the blog. I  actually went to the hospital (no one just goes to a doctor here, just the hospital) where I was told I had an infection. Anyway I am in this room where they give everyone IVs and people in the room are also sick, so like me they are coughing. However none of them are covering their mouths when they cough. 

I always thought that we spread germs when we cough, so we should cover our mouths. I guess in China they don't feel that way. This is not something like Korean Fan Death, that I think is crazy, but funny because it is not going to affect my health. (http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death)

I don't want to get whatever sickness the chinese guy next to me has because he is being lazy. I thought this stuff was common knowledge. 

I can't wait to find out that no one covers their mouths when they cough because of some inane reason  like some emperor of some dynasty didn't have a hand so he couldn't cover his mouth when he coughed, and made a decree that no one would so he wouldn't feel embarrassed. Or if someone has the audacity to tell me that it is healthy.