Reading the Las Vegas with a 2 month old post got me thinking about airborne germs on airplanes. Anyone ever believe they got sick from germs on a plane? I wonder if the lack of flu shots will increase the chances of catching something airborne while flying?

Don't get me wrong - I don't think much about this and am certainly not too worried about it. Just thinking out loud.

If you're going to worry about germs on planes, don't forget to worry about the water quality and the germs on every surface that you touch, too. I hear that the tray tables have tested to be germier than the toilet seats.

In short, there's nothing you can do about exposure -- so help your immune system do its job: enough rest, eat right, drink plenty of water, and wash your hands frequently. Just like Mom said to do.

There is no consistent evidence that 'airborne germs' cause infections in typical travellers.
Lots of common sense tests will also suggest there's no strong connection. Think about it: if any significant amount of potentially infectious organisms was being circulated to the public, and there are almost 2 billion fliers each year worldwide, the number of infections would be overwhelming and the relationship would be undeniable.
Do a large number of people contract infections while travelling? Yes. But well over 95% of those infections are due to direct contact (hands to mouth, etc) or change in environment (diet,etc). Airborne infections from planes are NOT the culprit.

Sigh. I'm not worrying. Never have. . I will continue to fly. Just wonder if people do get sick from flying or if there will be an increase since there's the flu shot shortage. (Say that 3 times really fast - flu shot shortage flu shot shortage flu shot shortage...)

Aren't all germs on airplanes "airborne"?

And yes, I do believe that flying makes you more susceptible to sickness. It may be the dry air, it may be the closeness of other sick people, who knows. But I ride the subway every day and don't get sick from *that*. But the last 10 or 20 times I've gotten colds have been a day or two after taking a flight. Seriously. At my office they know that after a vacation or work trip I'll likely take a couple sick days, and make fun of me for it.

Travelis - you make good points.. however, a quick click on google and I have already found a few sites that may agree with some of your points, yet there is definitely a chance of catching some sort of germs on an airplane. Just think of the SARS epidemic not too long ago.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/2036-2514.html

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/...-airtrans.html

Good point travleis. How many of us have heard that if one person on your plane has a bad cold or flu, then everyone is likely to get it? I don't recall anyone in our family ever getting sick after a flight and I'm sure lots of people fly with colds and other minor ailments. Who can forget the SARS hysteria? I would hope that anyone that obviously sick would be banned from flying because that does pose a public health risk.

One of the few times I can relate travel to illness is from going to Disneyworld. We only live a couple of hours away and went often when the kids were little. It seemed like everytime we went a few days later one or all of them would get sick.

We stopped getting season passes at Adventure Island (water park) when the kids were little because they constantly got ear infections. The final straw was when our daughter had such a stubborn ear infection it had to be cultured to figure out the correct antibiotic to prescribe. Our ENT asked if we'd been to a water park because what they discovered was a bacteria common in third world countries. Yikes.

I'd worry much less about breathing the air on a plane and concentrate more on keeping my hands clean!

I think that stress and being overtired when travelling are probably the biggest contributing factors to people getting sick after flying on an airplane. The level of germiness is the same, but people's resistence is down. So - like mom always said - get enough sleep, eat your veggies, and wash your hands often.

I flew home 4 days ago, a person 2 seats away was coughing all 6,5 hours of the flight, should I worry if I feel fine

I take vitamin C 500 mg daily doesn't matter if I travel or not. And of course, wet hand wipes are always in my purse. The only additional thing - I just couldn't think of drinking the airplane water - had my own bottles and asked for OJ no ice.

I drink lots of alcohol whenever I fly in hopes that it will kill any germs that I manage to pick up.

Austin for some reason I read the title as Airborne gems!!!

Seems like everytime we fly out west to ski in the winter, a member of our family comes back with a cold. Not so much other times of the year.

2 points to Suzanne for the airborne comment.

As for the difference between a subway ride and a plane flight, there a couple key differences. One: most people eat or drink on a plane flight, which involves putting your fingers close to your mouth. Hard to avoid contact entirely sometimes if you're eating nuts, crackers, sandwiches etc. Also, the number of 'dirty' public surfaces you touch while travelling thru an airport, on the plane, etc is far greater than during a subway commute. Thirdly, the drier air in the plane does reduce the effectiveness of the immune mechanism built into the mucosal lining of your nose and throat. Fourth, the stress of travelling is known to reduce systemic immune performance.
None of those factors are issues for subway travel.

Interesting EPA airplane drinking water report:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6843448/?GT1=6065

There is a product called ironically AIRBORNE, that is like a super vitamin. If you take that upon the very first signs of a cold, it does diminish it also, about the same as zinc does. But it works better preventively. You do not take this all the time. My sister told me about it years ago, as her one child had numerous colds and ear infections and they gave it to him.

I have taken it before flying and have had great results. Before (mega-vitamin AIRBORNE pre-flight habit) I would come back from every West coast to Chicago flight I took and be sick for 7 to 10 days. For some reason it is always from dry or high country that I get this coming home.

There is much greater incidence toward infection because of the kind of air circulation and distances between people among other factors in air travel.

Anytime you are in a small sealed area with a bunch of people you are take the chance of catching someone elses crud.

I tend to worry more that the wings will fall off the plane.

A few years ago they changed the standards to allow more recycled air on aircrafts.

Ever since then, everyone that I know and their cousin has been getting sick every time they fly.

Just coincidence of course.