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

And about the contact version of the flu?

[Wild_dog!]

So how long does the flu virus sit on a surface?

Every time I see someone hacking up a lung on a plane I wonder how big a radius has that one person infected.
Then I think about how long the duration of the virus on a surface is.

Then I think of my inadvertent hand contact with such surfaces and the innocent brushing of my eyes or handling of something I might stuff in my mouth along with he virus.

I just don't buy what they are selling and I got my masters in public health with an emphasis in Tropical Disease.

Maybe diseases and their spread has changed somehow since I went to school?

Re:And about the contact version of the flu?

[ShanghaiBill]

Every time I see someone hacking up a lung on a plane ...

In China they use IR cameras at the security gate. If you are running a fever, or hacking and coughing, you can't board the plane. The rationale is to keep disease in one province from spreading to the rest of the country, but it should also reduce in-flight infections.

Re:And about the contact version of the flu?

[mentil]

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

Try tuberculosis

[dsgrntlxmply]

There was a memorable 1996 article in the New England Journal of Medicine examining transmission of drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis by a passenger on a commercial airline flight.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/1...

Especially memorable is a seat map showing the index passenger's seat, and locations of others who showed positive TB skin tests.

Re:Like you have a choice?

[Spy Handler]

You can always bring a respirator with a full face goggle, Heisenberg style. If you wear this during the flight, you're protected from airborne spit particles that are ejected when a neighbor sneezes AND you're protected from germs on surfaces (because you have to touch the surface with your hand and then touch your mouth/nose/eyes with your hand to get infected, and you can't touch your face if you have the respirator on).

After you get off the plane, take off the respirator first *then* thoroughly wash your hands. If you wash your hands first and then take off the mask, your hands could get germs that are sitting on the outside surface of the mask.

Re:what about cruise ships?

[DontBeAMoran]

milling crowds

Oh, so they have activities for makers now? Do they have 3D printers and laser cutters, or only CNC routers?

Re:proofread

[rogoshen1]

is there anything more humiliating for a grammar Nazi than getting called out for pulling a 'Ted', and being wrong?

Good times.

Re:Like you have a choice?

[110010001000]

No you won't get infected. If that were true everyone in the entire planet would be sick constantly. Amazingly your body has this thing called an "immune system". Get over yourself. And, wow, 30 deaths out of 350 million? You need to get a grip on reality. Over 3,500 people drowned last year in the US. Germaphobes have a complete lack of common sense.