Sick after returning from Europe

Wow, I guess I am not alone. I am fortunate that is has always been at the end of my trip and not the start. Kent, you called in, we fly back on Tuesday and Wednesday and I got sick on the following Friday.

I am starting to see why some people where masks and gloves on the plane and the subway.

Prior posts have mentioned aircraft ventilation systems. Aircraft bathrooms are thought to be another source of viral illness (including colds). 300 or 400 people using the same few bathrooms, touching the same objects, on a long flight, a number of these are children (aka human virus factories).

I've read that health professionals are trained to use a hand washing routine with something like a minimum of 20 seconds of soap and scrubbing. Some use hand sanitizers on airplanes, but I've read that many people don't use a sufficient quantity of sanitizer.

Long haul airplane flights are the punishment for the luxury of going to Europe.

Often it is from the recirculated air in the airplanes, which means everyone is sharing everyone else's germs & infections. I have often come down with a cold a day or two after a long flight.

Usually, catching something on an airplane is simply because you've been sitting close to someone who spreads germs in your proximity for 8 or 10 hours. Aircraft ventilation systems are very efficient at moving air....about half the air that circulates through is fresh air from the outside, and recirculated air is passed through HEPA filters. Things like scratchy throats and dry coughs occur usually because the aircraft cabin is so dry.
As for getting sick the last day in Europe...who knows? If you've had a busy vacation and you're tired, that'll make you more susceptible to picking up something.

I agree with the other posters that I think it's attributed to the airplane. I got sick on my first few trips TO Europe (no fun trying to sight see when you feel yucky). My last couple of trips there I have saved up my airline miles and flown either business or first class and not gotten sick, I don't know if I just got lucky or the extra room helped. I also now fly with my own scarf and do not use the provided blankets, those things can be full of germs!!

My son's doctor told me that it takes 1 to 2 weeks to become sick after being exposed to infectious germs.

This info doesn't change that you got sick, but you had to have been infected 1-2 wks prior. Maybe on the flight over?

Another reason why traveling increases getting sick is because we are exposed to infectious germs that we aren't used to here and therefore we haven't built up immunity to.

When we travel, chances are we are exposed to many more people than usual: subways, trains, buses, airports, hotels, tourist sites, etc.

This from Medline Plus (my italics): "You can get a cold by touching your eyes or nose after you touch surfaces with cold germs on them. You can also inhale the germs. Symptoms usually begin 2 or 3 days after infection and last 2 to 14 days. Washing your hands and staying away from people with colds will help you avoid colds."

Based on the above information, if you were exposed to cold viruses on an airplane and your immune system was not successful in fighting them off (or whatever it is that determines whether you actually come down with a cold after being exposed), you would expect to have cold symptoms about 2 to 3 days after exposure.

I now take antibacterial wipes with me and wipe down every surface I will touch at my seat on a plane. I also wipe down every room we stay in. Door knobs, remote controls, light switches, etc. rarely if ever get cleaned. I also carry wipes and gel with me and use them a lot. It won't help with airborne germs, but it is the best I can do.

My first trip to Europe I got sick about two weeks into it. We still had 10 days to go. I tried to just ignore it and tough it out. I went to the Dr. when I got home and found out my chest wall was inflamed. It took another week or two to get over it. I do whatever I can to avoid getting sick. Call me a germaphobe, but so far so good.

3 of 5 of my consecutive annual Europe trips, have been with me coming home sick. I do a lot of preventive things before I go, like vit C/echinacia/zinc but once I am in Europe, I stop. Then I come home with a sickness. So this year when I go, I will zinc up the whole trip. I think that these trips run us down which may make it easier to get sick. Being on the go every day for 10-17 days non stop will come back to haunt you.

Andrea, that is a great idea to wipe your hotel room down with antibacterial wipes. My husband is a self proclaimed germaphobe and we use them constantly before we eat in restaurants. We ran out of them during our trip this time and never replaced them.

I always get sick within a week after flying. Last summer I was coughing my way across England and earlier this year I was sick for nearly a week after returning from Florida. I always hope that it won't hit until after I return from my trip, but that is not always the case. :( Crossing my fingers and packing lots of wipes, antibacterial gel and cold medicine for my trip this week to Sweden.

I have to share this - even though it is kind of yuck. ABout 20 years ago, a nurse told my mother(now age 82)to rub some Vicks VapoRub, just inside her nostrils before every flight. She does that religiously (and for other confined events) and has never gotten sick on any of 40+ trips abroad. I, on the other hand, declined to do that on my first trip baroad withy her last year. (I mean really - we were on a plane - you have to reapply a little every couple of hours). I'm way too cool for that. I came down with a lousy headcold, cough and sore throat and was miserable the entire train trip from Basel to Vienna and for the first few days there. I have already purchased my very own less than 3 oz jar of Vicks for my upcoming trip. Mother does know best!

A word of caution here. I'm reading several replies that mention excessive use of alcohol-based wipes and placing mildly caustic substances in the nostrils. Although using an alcohol-based wipe or hand gel is a proven method of lowering (emphasize "lowering" not "eliminating") your chances of an infection, overdoing it can cause skin or mucous membrane inflammation which RAISES the risk of infection.

Another poster mentioned loading up on zinc... probably harmless (and ineffective) for most of us, but potentially problematic for people with heart conditions.

You can lower your risk by using simple measures, but sometimes, you're just going to get sick no matter what you do. That's the nature of travel.

I don't think I use antibacterial wipes "excessively", but I do wipe down surfaces that I know will be dirty. How often do you think tray tables, seat belt clasps, etc. in an airplane get cleaned. Ditto the rooms you stay in. I only do it when I arrive in my room or at my seat. I have heard of people who won't eat in restaurants unless they bring their own utensils. I don't go that crazy.

I do use an excessive amount of antibacterial gel during the course of a normal work day. My job requires me to go into some pretty disgusting places. Some days I wish I could shower in the stuff. :-( I have never had an adverse reaction to the gels and I rarely get sick.

For every person who takes a flight and gets sick afterward, there are tens of thousands who flew on the same day and did not get sick, and did not post about "not getting sick".

As for this comment: "rub some Vicks VapoRub, just inside her nostrils before every flight. She does that religiously (and for other confined events) and has never gotten sick on any of 40+ trips abroad."

Well, I've never done that, and have never (in some 20+ tips abroad and 100+ domestic flights) never become sick afterward.

Wash you hands, take normal precautions. And don't travel with fear of the airplane air.

I'm one of those people that has never gotten sick on any trip (more than 10 to Europe, lasting from 4 to 10 wks each trip) or from any plane ride, and I don't do anything other than wash my hands.

I do seem to catch every cold and flu bug that passes by me here though. Hmm...maybe that's another good reason to move to France :)

The only time I ever got sick was from eating at Rick's recommended Cafe du Marche on rue Cler. I got very bad food poisoning and was horribly sick for 3 days.

There are only a couple of hundred cold viruses out there in the world and when you come to a new continent, you are going to be exposed to these new ones that you haven't encountered yet. Pretty much everyone I know that has moved here to Germany gets lots of colds the first few years and then it slacks off. (we joke that the word "Germ" in Germany is there for a reason)

Our bodies need a certain amount of germs to keep our immune systems in fighting shape. The massive use of anti-bacterial soaps, etc. is not really very healthy for us. The rest of the world is not using hand gel or sanitizer wipes, they just go about their business like usual, washing their hands with soap as needed. It seems that people spend more time being ill today then they did back before all this hand sanitizer stuff started being used on a regular basis.

I have traveled abroad to England 3 times and only got sick on the first trip, on the way back. I think it was from riding the tube as it was in December and there were alot of coughers.

Luckily though it didnt ruin my trip. I started feeling a bit tired about 2 days before i was to go home and didnt get feel sick until halfway home on the flight from London to Philly. So from Philly to Denver I slept in my coach seat (thats how tired I was!) and was sick for a week after with a horrible flu. I do hope I didnt infect anyone on the way back, but I didnt know I was sick until I was on the flight, I just thought I was tired from walking so much!

On about half my trips to Europe I've been sick with cold symptoms during the trip. Symptoms come on 10-14 days into the trip, so I doubt that the airplane experience caused my illness. I've learned to be careful of my health while traveling, getting plenty of sleep, nutrition, and practicing hand-cleaning hygiene. I take echinacea as a preventive year-round. I haven't been sick the last 2-3 trips. I'm almost never sick at home.

On Vicks-in-the-nose: I've heard this trick strongly discounted by medical people, who say that it risks introducing petroleum jelly into the lungs. Not a good thing.

The best way to avoid getting sick during or after a trip is to be healthy when you leave. Then, use common sense. Try to stay away from coughing, sneezing people. (On an 8-hour flight last year I was seated next to someone who looked half-dead and coughed and sniffled continuously. After takeoff, I changed my seat.) Keep your hands away from your face. Wash your hands when the opportunity arises. Use hot water, lots of soap, and scrub thoroughly for 20-30 seconds. Do this especially before you eat. Carry antiseptic cleaner to use when you can't wash.

Here at home, I wash my hands every time I return after going someplace, even to buy groceries. If you touch anything (like the handle on a grocery cart or an airline seat rest) you're gonna pick up germs left by the zillion other people who have handled the same thing.

Don't discount the effect of stress, which can make you more susceptible to illness. Even if you love to travel, it can still be stressful planning, packing, traveling to a new location, etc. I have friends that get sick almost time they travel, whether it's by air, cruise ship, or car.