As the cold and flu season comes to an end, allergy season is rearing its head to bring misery to many an Australian's nose.

With about 9 million cases of colds and flu a year in Australia, it is not surprising we use about 273,000 tonnes of tissue products annually.

An alternative to the throw-out tissue is the old-fashioned handkerchief, but are the reusable cloths potential disease spreaders?

"I don't think hankies are all that bad," Dr Martyn Kirk, epidemiologist at Australian National University, told Helen Shield on 936 ABC Hobart.

"I'm definitely pro-hanky. I think it's a bit of a waste with tissues and they make a big mess."

Dr Kirk said unless people were using someone else's already-used hanky, it was not very likely that hankies were spreading germs.

A hanky can be used hundreds of times, while a tissue is thrown out straight away. ( Flickr: Jeremy Noble )

"The main way people get infections is when other people sneeze or they have contact with other people when they have a cold," he said.

"[When an infected person is] sneezing and they're generating droplets that other people inhale, that's how they get infected rather than by a hanky."

Dr Kirk said this time of year was the worst for respiratory diseases.

"Respiratory infections are really common ... and they're due to a range of different viruses," he said.

"Some people get more than one per person, and particularly young kids.

"Anyone who has young children in the family is probably getting more than their fair share of viral infections."

Dr Kirk said to prevent spreading germs, a healthy person should not touch another person's used hanky, but added there was little risk of infection when hankies were washed in the washing machine.

Fashion accessory or practical rag?

As with many items that were popular in the past, handkerchiefs may be making a small comeback.

John Paton, chief executive of Oak Tasmania, said it had a contract to sew handkerchiefs for a Sydney-based designer as fashion accessories.

"Women are more likely to have handkerchiefs than men as a useful item," Mr Paton said.

"Men might see them more as a fashion accessory to go in the top pocket of a coat."

A Twitter poll gave a 50-50 split on the issue of the hanky, whereas comments on the 936 ABC Hobart Facebook page were more varied:

Christopher: "A gentleman must always carry a handkerchief, you may not need one but you never know when a lady might."

Stuey: "Never been a fan of the old snot rag. I have scary memories of being a small child and my grandmother holding my head still as she licked the corner of her hanky and wiped a dirty spot of my face. Yuk!"

Jamie: "I am stirred constantly for carrying a hanky by my mates ... It looks more dignified than holding in one nostril and blowing out the content of the other to the ground. Tally ho."

Ellie: "I loathe hankies. They are disgusting. My ex-husband used them and when he threw them in the wash, the thought of washing that with our clothes was so revolting to me, I used to throw them in the bin instead."