Does anyone out there experience flu-like symptoms soon after flying or any other ill effects?

Hi Merilee,
For the past few years, I have been lucky and have stayed well after flying. But a friend of mine just came back from Italy and she came down with something, flu-like.
My daughter had a stomach/sinus problem after flying this past September.
Why, just curious, or is there something we should all worry about ?

Scarlett, the last three times I've flown I have come down with the worst flu-like symptoms I have ever experienced. It happened again last week and I am recuperating slowly. I am a very impatient patient. I can't stand being sick. This time I loaded up on coldeeze but it didn't help. Is there something to all that recirculated air talk?

I am sure there is 'something' in that recirculated air talk, but what a shame you have gotten sick every time!!
Sort of makes you dread taking a flight, doesn't it?
We should write to the airlines and to the news people and make a fuss, maybe someone will get a clever idea and pump in clean air or something...
Or just pass out little masks as we board~
Feel better

Second time I've been to Italy this year. The second time I've gotten sick after flying. I'm still recovering. This is the worst cold/flu I've had in years!

Thanks Scarlett. Hope you feel better soon Dori. I was giving some thought to the mask idea. I wonder how often Michael Jackson gets sick (if at all) since he wears one all the time.

I always seem to get congestion/cough and sore throat after flying. Since I am allergic to dust mites, I am wondering it the seats, carpet etc. isn't full of the little critters and the recirculated air isn't spewing them all over the place.

Hub usually comes down with something after flying, but who can say whether the plane, lack of sleep, weird food, and/or general travel stress depress his immunity...

Those little pillows that they give you on airplanes? Other people have been drooling all over those things for days.

I get sick about 50% of the time after flying, most often on longer duration trips like west coast U.S. to Europe. Flu-like symptoms sometimes, head cold others. I always assumed it was the from the recirculating (germy) air.

My dad always gets sick when he returns from a trip. I always just figured it was getting run down from all the activity, more alcohol, less sleep. Then I read somewhere about people getting sick on airplanes so I mentioned it to him. He had never made the connection. So we talked about it and decided it probably is the plane. He always ends up with a really bad cold that has turned in to bronchitis.

I would like someone to do a study on this. For example, put 250 people in any tight quarters for 6 hours and see how many got sick versus how many get sick after a plane ride. My suspicion is that neither the plane nor the circulating air has anything to do with it - it is the group of people in a small space that does it.

I used to get sick almost every time I flew. For the past few times I have used a new product and have not gotten sick. It is called Airborn and is available at Walgreens, Trader Joe's and a few other places. It is an effervescent tablet that you dissolve in water (I use orange juice) and drink. I usually take one on the flight and one afterward. Give it a try!

My father was telling me of a similar problem that he consulted his Doctor about.

Seenms there are some cold viruses that are so tough to get rid of that you can think you've got rid of it but its actually just gone into a sort of remission (i.e. your body just hasn't mangaged to beat it). Sitting on a plane for a few hours, breathing in recirculated air, blood circulation suffering, lack of fresh air etc etc can all give that dormant bug the ammo it needs to make a come back

When you are packed into a small space with lots of other people, you have a greater chance of catching something from them. Here is an article from WebMD about the phenomenon on airplanes:

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/49/39915

I take Airborne every time I fly because I have got super sick 3 different times coming back from Arizona. In fact, those 3 times have been the only times I have been sick with flu/cold in many years.

I work in an environment with lots of people in a small space, and I am sick less than anyone. There is something about the plane- and especially if coming from a dry climate or longer flight with me.

All of this worry about air travel illness. Try being locked up in a classroom with sneezing, wheezing, coughing, runny noses, drippy and poked at noses, alllll daaaay looong!

New teachers are ALWAYS sick because they haven't built up their immune systems to the germs that are prevalent in schools. The more seasoned teachers generally fair much better.

I'm not saying there isn't any legitimacy to picking up a bug in a plane, but unless you're flying everyday, I would imagine your chances of getting sick are less than those who are in the environment I just described on a daily basis.

Probably some individuals are just more prone to picking something up on a plane than others and that's got to be a miserable way to travel!