By Yuri M. Basillic
True Dork Science & Medicine Editor

ROME (TDT).  Following years of pressure by local media and a frothingly enthusiastic citizenry, Italian officials announced that European Union legislators have relented, and passed a law requiring all citizens to say "Bless you" after someone sneezes.  While scientists and physicians have long scoffed at the concept, activists adamantly assert that this act "prevents demons from flying into the mouth of the person who sneezes, making them sick."

While the legislators themselves declined comment, apart from a cursory "We gave the people what they want," ecstatic legions of the measure's supporters took to the streets in a boisterous frenzy of singing, chanting, whistle-blowing, sign-waving, and stilt-walking puppetry.

Greek and Italian papers hailed the development as a victory for their investigative reporting.  Paolo Corsi, reporter for the Fiorenza Picayune said triumphantly, "Now our people will be safe.  We don't know where the demons came from, but we suspect the Americans were involved."

Still, some activists were not completely satisfied.  "This law has no teeth! There are no punishments proscribed for people who violate this!" screamed Donatello D'Almuerzo, leader of the Society for Actions Locking Up Demons (SALUD).  "The government has known for years that many, maybe even three or four people have been dying because nobody said 'Bless you,' and they've been covering it up!"

Dr. Francois Letorneau, director of the Division of Medicine at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, denied such charges. "There is no evidence whatsoever that saying 'Bless you' makes any difference, let alone this claptrap about demons.  But they worked themselves into a frenzy and ignored all the data on genetically-modified foods, cell phones and cancer, and depleted uranium as well. You could tell Europeans that the moon caused cancer, and they would try to ban it. Frankly, I'm just happy I don't live in Switzerland, where they have to bless dogs and cats when they sneeze."

It is unclear if groups such as SALUD would continue their fight for more extensive regulations, such as a suggestion that all Europeans be required to wear crucifixes, as an extra demon-fighting mechanism should they sneeze when no-one else is around. "Anything is possible," sighed a weary legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Analysts in the U.S. suggested that the Centers for Disease Control brace for the inevitable spread of the European fervor for demon-fighting legislation to American shores.  "Every time some idiotic trend starts off in Europe, it winds up here eventually," said a CDC spokesman.  "Just look at the Backstreet Boys."