Do you ever wonder? ‘Where did did I pick that bug up?’ Many of us believe that being on the bus, airplane or the air we are breathing is somehow the connected to our latest virus problem. I read this article by Dr. Gifford Jones last week in his newspaper column with the following experience and editorial about traveling inside enclosed spaces.
“Did I catch this infection on the plane?” I wondered. I’m sure, like me, you have often asked yourself this same question, particularly if you’ve landed in a tropical paradise and a cold is the last thing you need. So what is the risk of picking up a bug on a plane and how can you avoid it? And should airlines add something to a certain door?
Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 1,100 passengers travelling between San Francisco and Denver, Colorado, on planes that had newer air recirculating systems and those that use fresh air for ventilation. 21 percent of passengers aboard fresh air planes reported colds within one week, compared to 19 percent of those breathing recirculated air.
Dr. Derek Johnston, a specialist in pediatric allergy and immunology at Temple University in Philadelphia, says, “It doesn’t matter if you’re breathing recirculated air or fresh air. If the germs are there, you’re going to get sick and it’s due to confined space”.
Airline officials agree the risk is proximity, and if you had 400 people sitting close together on the Trans-Siberian Railway the same number would catch colds, namely about one in five who travel in confined space.
You have to conclude that boarding a plane carries infection risks. But it’s not just the fault of airlines. Humans can be their own worst enemy by failing to wash hands after a bowel movement. In one study, medical students were stationed in a public washroom during a medical convention. They reported that 50 percent of physicians left the washroom without even turning on the tap! And the convention was about infectious disease!
Here’s a suggestion for airlines to help eliminate the one in five of us who develop a cold. In all my travels I’ve yet to see a hand sanitizer outside the plane’s toilet door. Surely it would remind those who do not wash their hands to do so. It would also make my aisle seat much safer.
See the website for the full Story: http://bit.ly/1e5ncV2
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