But not in a good way.
Researchers from Auburn University took two common, nasty bacteria
and, in a lab, painted them on six surfaces that passengers routinely
touch inside airplane cabins. The results are not heartening.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lasted for 168 hours
on the cloth seatback pockets where flyers store everything from
magazines to iPhones. And a virulent strain of E. coli, which can cause
severe abdominal cramps and vomiting, persisted for 96 hours on
armrests, 72 hours on tray tables and 48 hours on that metal button you
use to flush the toilet in airplane lavatories.
Researchers simulated the temperature (24 degrees Centigrade) and
humidity (a dry 18 percent) in an airline cabin, and suspended the
bacteria in three different solutions: saline, simulated sweat and
simulated saliva. They did not test the cleaning protocols employed by
airlines, because their assignment was to collect baseline data for the
Federal Aviation Administration.
So I guess your comfort with this revelation, which was presented
last week at the American Society for Microbiology meeting, boils down
to how confident you are in the thoroughness of the cleaning crew that
comes on board while you're switching planes on a layover. Or how strong
your immune system is. Or how successful you are at keeping your hands
away from your face on a long trip.
"The take-home message is be careful about your hand hygiene and
don't travel while contagious or immune compromised," said Kiril
Vaglenov, a post-doctoral fellow in materials science at Auburn, who led
the research.
MRSA is the scourge of locker rooms, hospitals, military barracks and
other settings where large numbers of people congregate. But it's also
carried in the nostrils of about 1 percent of the U.S. population. About
30 percent of people carry the non-methicillin resistant strain of the
same bacteria.
As you might expect, transmission of the pathogens was easier from
non-porous surfaces such as tray tables and window shades, even though
they lasted longer on porous surfaces such as seat back pockets and arm
rests. The good news is that after just 24 hours, the transmission rate
of MRSA in sweat and saliva was very low, just 1.1 percent and 0.4
percent respectively, and it dropped to zero after 48 hours. From tray
tables and window shades, however, transmission was as high as 44.4
percent for MRSA in sweat.
Transmission of E. coli in sweat on tray tables remained very high
even after 72 hours, but was at zero within the same time period for
armrests and toilet handles.
This study comes on the heels of research presented at the same
conference that found that the bacteria that causes Legionnaires'
disease flourishes in some windshield washer fluid, which can become
aerosolized and be inhaled.
Mr. Vaglenov, meanwhile, said people need to be aware of how
prevalent pathogens are in their environment and how often they come in
contact with them. Of airline-borne bacteria, he said: "I don't think
it's more dangerous than being at the movie theater."