How a Virus Spreads Through an Airplane Cabin (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Traveling by plane greatly increases our chances of getting sick, or so many of us are wont to believe. To be fair, it's not uncommon to come down with a nasty illness after we return from a vacation or business trip. But is flying the culprit? The latest research suggests the answer is no -- but much of it depends on where we sit. New research published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that airline passengers infected with influenza -- a disease that spreads through the air -- aren't likely to infect other passengers who sit more than two seats to the left or right, or more than two seats in front or back. In other words, your chances of contracting the flu from an infected passenger are slim -- unless you're sitting within about three feet (one meter) of them. Given that three billion of us fly annually, combined with the popular conception that we often contract diseases inflight, it's surprising to learn that very few studies have looked into this issue in detail.

Comments

I laugh at you virus scareddy pants...

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

You windows users are such wimps, needing so much of anti virus software. As a certified fanboi of Apple I don't need no such thing and I am totally protected. I am not scared of virus...

Wait, I am way off base here, right? It's not that kind of virus, eh?

Well, why waste a perfectly typed comment? Hit submit.

Re:And about the contact version of the flu?

[mentil]

The IR cameras are actually to detect androids/reptilians hiding among the populace.