Printed From: Avian Flu Talk
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Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Description: (General discussion regarding the next pandemic)
URL: http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=37135 Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 4:39am
Topic: Plane Common SensePosted By: Technophobe
Subject: Plane Common Sense
Date Posted: March 21 2018 at 2:17am
How to Avoid Catching the Flu Virus on a Plane, According to New Study
By http://www.newsweek.com/authors/kashmira-gander" rel="nofollow - On 3/20/18 at 11:59 AM
(Technophobe: Stay in your seat as much as possible, use hand gel and disinfwctant wipes on surfaces you touch and wash your hands as often as you can! - As if you could not guess that for yourselves!)
The chances of the average air passenger catching the flu during a
flight is relatively slim, according to new research which has
pinpointed those most at risk of falling ill.
Scientists
investigating the likelihood of passengers catching common respiratory
infections in air cabins analyzed data on how customers and crew moved
during short-haul flights. Passengers sitting one or two seats away from
a person with the flu, or in the row in front or behind, had an 80%
risk of contracting the respiratory illness. But for everyone else, the
risk was less than 3%, the study suggested.
"What we showed is that outside this perimeter there is very little
probability of becoming infected on an airplane,” Vicki Hertzberg, a
professor of biostatistics and director of the Center for Nursing Data
Science at Emory University in Atlanta, told https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/19/virus-risk-on-planes-is-lower-than-you-might-think-study-says" rel="nofollow - The Guardian .
"You don’t have to worry about the coughing coming from the person five
rows behind you," added Hertzberg, whose research was published in the
journal http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/03/13/1711611115" rel="nofollow - PNAS .
Researchers traveled on 10 domestic U.S. flights which lasted between
3.5 to five hours. During these flights, they documented the movements
of a total of 1,540 passengers and 41 cabin crew members, and
collected 228 samples from the air and hard surfaces. The samples were
tested for 18 common respiratory viruses, and came back negative even
though it was flu season.
The team calculated the risk of infection according to the worst-case scenario based on a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
According to those figures, a passenger with the flu would infect
others at a rate of 0.018 per minute of contact. Researchers also noted
that the model only took into account viruses spread via coughs and
sneezes, and not those that may lurk in the cabin air.
Further research is needed to understand whether the findings
also relate to long-haul flights, where passengers and crew members are
more likely to move around, the researchers said.
“The weakness
of the analysis is that airflow within the cabin of an airplane is very
difficult to simulate, so long-range infections via that route remain an
open issue,” Derek Gatherer of the Faculty of Health and Medicine
at Lancaster University, and lead educator on the FutureLearn
course "Influenza: How the flu spreads and evolves," told Newsweek.
Christopher
O’Kane, a lecturer in biomedical science at Anglia Ruskin University,
highlighted that although viruses cannot replicate outside of the
infected individual, they can remain dormant for 24 to 48 hours on hard
surfaces such as the plastic interior of an aircraft.
While the
reduced humidity inside an aircraft reduces the chances a virus will
survive, he said, the question remains how many more individuals may
become sick on the next flight if infected surfaces aren't cleaned.
“In
this study, the investigators did not find any viruses on the surfaces
and the airlines states that hard surfaces are disinfected after the
plane 'overnights'. The lack of an initial presence of a virus being
spread limits the conclusion that can be made from this observation," he
told Newsweek.
Air passengers hoping to avoid
catching common respiratory ailments are advised to stay in their seats
to minimize transmission opportunities, and avoid touching anything a
flight attendant who appears to be ill passes to them, Gatherer said.
But
on long-haul flights, moving and walking in order to avoid deep vein
thrombosis trumps the temptation to stay seated in order to avoid the
flu, he argued.
“For added protection when traveling, my advice is
to carry alcohol wipes or a hand gel. Wipe down the surfaces you will
be touching and always wash your hands with soap and water between using
the hand gel and before eating," said O'Kane.
The responsibility
to prevent the spread of the flue lies with all of us, he continued,
regardless of where we are. “From covering our mouth and nose when
coughing and sneezing, and washing our hands regularly and especially
before meals, we significantly reduce our chances of picking up a
virus,” he said.