My wife and I will be making our 3rd trip to the Costa Del Sol for a 2 week stay. We have also traveled during the past 4 years to other parts of Europe. The problem seems to be that every time we fly across the atlantic (Iberia or United Airlines) we spend at least 3 of the first 7 days down in bed with some sort of bug. A cough, runny nose and a slight fever. We are both in excellent health and active senior citizens. Does anybody else have this same experience? We have concluded that we possibly get the bug from the air on the airplane and especially since most to Europe are full. Appreciate any comments or recommendations as our next journey to the Canary Islands and the Costa Del sol begins in the last week of October. Thanks. Email me at: [email protected]

The best hint I've heard about flying for long periods of time is to keep hydrated. Drink lots of water and stay away from alcohol and caffeinated beverages. The air on planes is very dry and I believe you're more suspectible to colds when your throat dries out. We usually bring a couple of bottles of water with us so we have plenty to drink.

Brad, it almost sounds as if you guys are having an allergic reaction to some agent in the air (similar symptoms as a cold). Maybe while in long ride you are getting overly exposed to some airborne agent that otherwise, would rarely reach trigger levels. The advice about water is excellent and still applicable under this scenario as it flushes your system.

I have the same problem on very long flights (LA to Sydney). It happens each time, so I've met a variety of hotel doctors, local physicians and pharmacists which I figure is part of the "experience". I'm sure it's a result of breathing the same air for hours and hours, plus it seems that air is always blowing directly on some portion of my body (and yes, I've turned off my a/c vent - and usually my seatmates' too). I usually snag extra blankets when I board the plane and wrap myself up in a cocoon (particularly my head) - looks crazy, but it does help. Drinking lots and lots of water also helps. And, when I disembark, I drink lots more water the first few hours - sometimes, I've hunkered over the bathroom sink, head under a towel, breathing in steam. So, you're not alone in your suffering - but try to prevent as much as possible and go to the doctor! Medicine does work and I can enjoy my trip quicker.

<BR>Brad, perhaps the cold symptoms could be due to stress too??? The stress of planning the trip, taking care of last minute things at home, certainly changing time zones and not getting enough sleep, then your system being further aggravated by the dryness on the plane, perhaps being exposed to someone else on the plane with a cold, etc. etc. can lead to a general overall feeling of illness for a few days on arrival. This has happened to my husband on occasion, seasoned traveler though he is. Even when we're home, he just seems more susceptible to colds too, especially when he's been stressed out about something. <BR>You probably should check with your doctor though, and I agree with the above info about drinking plenty of water, no alcohol on the flight, and bring some healthy snacks for the flight like some fruit or order a special meal like a fruit plate to eat instead of the wretched stuff that's served. Upon arrival, how about a massage?? We often schedule one and it's wonderful and rejuvenating. And there's no sin against just taking it easy the first few days anyway on arrival and skipping the hustle/bustle of tours and feeling you HAVE to see x number of sites in one day. If the hotel has a spa, use it. We often book hotels with amenities like that if possible. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Forgot to mention that you should be as far away from the smoking section as possible(a factor on Iberia)and we also make sure we head to bed a bit earlier than normal the first night and sleep until we feel like getting up the next morning.

You could also start taking echinacea about 3 days before departure. It bolsters your immune systems and will help you be prepared to fight off invaders.

I'm really surprised at these responses. There's been a lot in the UK travel press about the reciculating of bugs through aircraft ventilation systems, resulting in exactly the problems that Brad and his wife have been suffering from. Unfortunately I'm the sort of person who takes inthe information about the problem but not the solution (particularly becasue I think there isn't one and the idea is to get airplane manufacturers to "do" air some other way) Let me go and see if I can find some of the articles..I fear they were in journals I don't keep however. <BR> <BR>Is this not a topic of discussion in the US travel press?

Brad, I tried to email you but the message was returned undeliverable. Here it is, cut and pasted: <BR> <BR> We USED to get sick on every flight; now, here's the proven method of staying <BR> well: <BR> 1) Zinc or Vitamin C lozenges to suck on the plane (wards off colds) <BR> 2) Saline nasal spray (not the medicated stuff; it's called Ocean Water - just <BR> salt and water). Dry nasal passages allow germs to enter. <BR> 3) We touch NOTHING with our hands; we carry antibacterial handwipes and wipe <BR> down the arms of the seat. When we use the bathrooms, we take a couple with <BR> us, AND have a kleenex in our hand. Open the door with the kleenex, wipe down <BR> the toilet seat with one of the wipes. We have our own soap - never use that <BR> scummy bar on the sink. WASH YOUR HANDS LIKE YOU WERE SCRUBBING FOR SURGERY! <BR> After drying your hands, open the door with another paper towel or kleenex. <BR> 4) Use waterless antibacterial hand cleaner after every trip to the bathroom. <BR> <BR> 5) Clean your hands with the wipes before eating. <BR> 6) Sleep as much on the plane as you can. The more rest, the less chance <BR> germs have to attack. <BR> <BR> It sounds nuts, but we have avoided the French flu (our name for the airplane <BR> sickness 'cause we got it the first time we went to France) the last 5 years. <BR> <BR> And we are women between 30 and 50, so we shouldn't get sick...but we did! <BR> <BR>And, Sheila, the discussion is ongoing in the press - the airlines keep saying "nuh uh nuh uh our air is fine" and Ralph Nader says "uh huh uh liar liar pants on fire" and airline passengers continue to get sick.

"On the nose," Elvira and Sheila! There is definitely an "airliner bug" and many of the flight attendants' unions have complained publicly about it. But US airlines' PR skill is overwhelming, and people are indeed sick a LOT. My husband came down with it like clockwork, a few days after arriving in Switzerland, and I got it, like clockwork, a few days after traveling to Spain -- ruined the Paris part of my trip. It's a particularly miserable kind of illness that starts like respiratory flu/cold and can stay with you as a stubborm bronchitis for quite a long time. <BR> <BR>Elvira's prescriptions are right-on, but I'd add (with Maira) that for some people, it may be an allergy to the molds in the air-circulation system that turns into a regular infection after a few days. So if you know you tend toward mold allergy and have an antihistamine, try that -- but NOT just for the heckuvit, because antihistamines will dry out your nasal passages and sinuses, making them even more vulnerable to airplane beasties! <BR> <BR>One last, delicate, piece of advice. If you use a nasal spray or inhaler on a trip, don't reuse it later on. I forgot my own advice and reinfected myself one month after returning from the trip. Same bug, with exactly the same timing of sore/dry throat, chest tightness, running nose, followed by cough. I felt dumb but I won't forget again. <BR> <BR>Oh yeah, and H2O H2O H2O!

Elvira is right about the cabin air issue. There was just an article about this very issue in a recent travel magazine I was reading, and the expert advised: (1) you reduce your chances of getting sick if you sit in first class, because fewer people share each cubic foot of air, and (2) if you can't sit in first class, then sit as far forward in the coach section as possible, because the air in the plane circulates from front to back so those in the back are breathing in what everyone else breathed out (bleh). I personally tend to agree with the theory that the stress of travelling tends to reduce immunity and make you more susceptible to illness. I also think some of this could be allergies and/or environmental. I got very sick and had trouble breathing a day or two after arriving in London once and attribute it to polluted city air (Athens was worse). My mom got sick in Florence but I think hers might have been the "sick and tired of being so hot and walking everywhere" bug. For the cold/flu bug mentioned earlier, here's what works for me whether I'm travelling or not: <BR>1. Upon the very first sign of any symptom, take 1000mgs of vitamin C immediately, and 1000mgs every hour thereafter for 5 hours (for a total of 6000 mgs). After that, take 1000 mgs per day. (This is a folk remedy; Dr. Andrew Weil recommends 2000mgs three times daily.) <BR>2. Yes, drink LOTS of water. <BR>3. Take Cold-Eeze brand zinc lozenges immediately upon experiencing first symptom and just follow the directions on the package. There are studies substantiating their efficacy, but not the efficacy of any other brand of zinc lozenges (no, I don't work for the company, I just use them and they work). Here is info from Dr. Andrew Weil's website (www.drweil.com) about the lozenges: "One recent study at the Cleveland Clinic found the mineral to cut the duration of a cold in half. No one, however, has found a cure for the common cold. In the Cleveland study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (15 July 1996), 50 people with colds sucked on Cold-Eeze lozenges (13 milligrams each) every two hours. Their symptoms cleared up four days sooner than the coughing, runny noses, and sore throats of a comparable group that didn't use the lozenges. Michael Macknin, who designed the research, thinks the zinc ions traveled from the mouth to the nose, where they prevented the viruses that cause colds from settling into the respiratory pathways." <BR>4. Take the herbs Astragalus and Echinacea (best used as prevention -- start taking it a couple of weeks or at least a few days before you leave -- but can't hurt to take it if you're already sick). More info on those herbs on the Dr. Weil website too. <BR>5. Hot fluids: chicken soup (there are some studies documenting the effectiveness of this as well), hot herbal tea (peppermint clears the sinuses). <BR>6. Rest. <BR>7. Gargle with warm salt water for the sore throat. <BR>Dr. Weil also recommends eating raw garlic cloves and drinking ginger tea, but I haven't tried those. <BR>For those of you out there who are thinking, "Who is this Dr. Weil character?", here is the answer, from his bio on the website (I have found much, but not all, of his advice on various health questions to be very helpful and credible): <BR>"Dr. Andrew Weil is a leader in the integration of Western medicine and the exploding field of alternative medicine. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, he teaches at the University of Arizona in Tucson, specializing in alternative medicine, mind/body interactions and medical botany. He is the founder of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson, where he is training a new generation of physicians. Dr. Weil is the author of seven books: "The Natural Mind" (1972), "The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon" (1980), "From Chocolate to Morphine" (with Winifred Rosen, 1983), "Health and Healing" (1984), "Natural Health, Natural Medicine" (1990), "Spontaneous Healing" (1995) and his most recent best-seller, "8 Weeks to Optimum Health.""

Brad: <BR> <BR>We followed the excellent advice we read here on the Fodor's forum before our trip to Europe last May, and for the first time neither my husband nor I were the least bit ill during our travels. We used Kleenex to cover our hands before we touched anything; we used antibacterial towels to wipe everything down, and we used that antibacterial hand gel like it was going out of style -- we applied it constantly. Makes you feel like Niles Crane on "Frasier" or Howard Hughes or something, but it WORKS! Do it during your flight and during your travels as well. <BR> <BR>Good luck and stay healthy!

Brad: <BR>You've been given excellent advice. As a practicing physician of the skeptical, closed-minded MD ilk, I field questions about non-traditional or 'alternative' remedies daily, and I get frustrated to the gills with the popular media and such for distorting scientific info for the sake of enhancing ratings/sales/readership, etc. I firmly agree with 90% of the above, practice many of these methods myself, and believe that they are helpful; it's unfortunate that more travelers are not aware of this information. Unfortunately nothing will be foolproof when you're confined to a flying Petri dish for 10-20 hours while a steady stream of airborne bacteria assail your respiratory system. <BR>Some of the claims made by the manufacturers of herbal and alternative medications are unfounded in the scientific literature, and small, poorly designed and/or non-controlled studies do NOT provide conclusive evidence of benefit (i.e. astragalus, herbal teas, etc.). I won't get into all the technical controversies. Suffice it to say that there appears to be no real downside to testing some of these regimens on your own, and it is a statistical likelihood that some of these regimens provide real benefit. What combination of agents/dose/frequency is optimal? No one knows. The science lags far behind the lore. Plenty of interest and ongoing research, though, so...stay tuned. (The media are counting on it).

My Wife and I would like to THANK EVERYONE who responded to our inquiry. We printed all of the responses and will definitely use all of the excellent recommendations. Fodors is GREAT. Since we are fairly new to the computer world, this proves the point "people are fantastic all over the world, just give them a chance to show it". THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE.