The elbow bump is an informal greeting where two people touch elbows.

She's at risk for getting the flu, colds, the elbow bumps she talks about are important.

The elbow bump can also cause bruising and even pain when striking a person's funny bone.

The handshakes often include intricate dance moves, jumps and elbow bumps.

The elbow bump got renewed interest when the 2009 swine flu outbreak in Mexico began growing into a worldwide pandemic.

The elbow bump as a greeting is also attributed to be a derivative of the more well known fist bump, beginning in the 1980s.

Elbow bump safer than handshake?

Because leprosy is transmitted primarily through mucus, there is some evidence that the elbow bump constrained infections.

By 2009, the elbow bump was endorsed by university officials and Nobel laureate Peter Agre.

The word "elbow bump" was considered for Word of the Year in 2009 by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

Among them: "elbow bumps instead of hugs and kisses," the staffer said, and ample use of the hand sanitizer dispensers around the studio.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science joined the World Health Organization in endorsing the elbow bump.

The Manhattan Soccer Club endorsed the elbow bump as the safe alternative to the hygienically promiscuous traditions of vigorous hand-to-hand contact.

He greeted all his guests with the "Flip Wilson Handshake,": four hand slaps, two elbow bumps finishing with two hip-bumps.

As in 2006, the elbow bump was supported by a number of health officials, such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent.

Back here in the states, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has even encouraged an elbow bump instead of a hand shake to avoid spreading germs.

In 2006, due to fears of a possible avian flu pandemic, the WHO proposed using the elbow bump as a means of "keeping other people's cooties at arms length."

In October 2014 an outbreak of the Ebola disease caused people to people to revive the Elbow bump interest in the greeting during the 2014 Ebola scare.

But with the curse of cholera, candidates who would normally shake voters' hands or kiss babies are opting here for a fist or elbow bump as a greeting to avoid spreading disease.

By 2009 the elbow bump had grown so large in popularity that people in Mexico had taken it upon themselves to utilize the elbow bump to reduce the spread of disease.

Dr. Michael Bell has been a principal advocate for using the elbow bump, noting that it can also help constrain the spread of diseases such as Ebola, by modeling social behavior that limits physical contact.

An early popularization of the elbow bump began outside the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement in 1969 with the lifting of the quarantine policy, which forced leprosy patients to live in an isolated peninsula on Molokai.

TO the pantheon of social arbiters who came up with the firm handshake, the formal bow and the air kiss, get ready to add a new fashion god: the World Health Organization, chief advocate of the "elbow bump."

The adoption of the elbow bump should accrue solid profits to the cosmetic industry, because there will obviously be a launching of elbow creams and moisturizing products, and even an "elbow blush" in six color shades.

The private Norwood School in Bethesda suspended its ritual morning handshake and said students will be met by principals "who may employ alternative greetings such as an elbow bump or at very least will offer a cheery 'Good Morning!'