Germs on Planes

Sharon, Which airline(s) did the article profile with this study? I'm not sure it would be accurate to say that this situation is the same with ALL airlines. Here are some of the methods I use: > Food trays: I usually travel with disinfectant Handi-Wipes. If I'm concerned about the food tray, I'll give it a "wipe" at the beginning of the flight. > Water served: I've been travelling with Air Canada a lot for the last few years, and they always serve bottled water (poured right from the bottle). I'm not in the least worried about the water quality. They usually have several small pallets of "shrink wrapped" bottled water in the galley so I know it's fresh. > Food: I've always found the food to be reasonably good. Most of the time, the trays are sealed with cellophane at the time of preparation. This is not removed during reheating so I doubt there would be much possibility of contamination. Hopefully the food preparers follow proper procedures. > Storage Pocket: This is likely an area with some accumulation of germs, so I try to avoid using it. My Daypack is usually kept under the seat, so I use it as my "storage pocket". > Pillows / Blanket: On long flights, those are usually placed in my lower back for extra support. The pillows have a disposable paper cover, so hopefully those are changed once in a while. Cheers!

I agree with above poster. The only other precaution I use is in the bathroom, I use a dry towel to turn off the water at the sink and then another dry towel to open the door latch but I do that in all public bathrooms.

The article said a random sampling of airlines was taken. It did call out United, Delta and American Airlines for having poor food preparation kitchens. The article might have been written a few years back - was mentioned that the water situation on planes is improving.

I don't worry about any of it. I have taken my own food, but only when the airline would otherwise charge for it.

I agree with Ken and take the same precautions. Just returned from a trip over the pond and a doctor was sitting next to me. I observed that he never got up to wash hands, used no wipes or hand sanitizer. Guess he was not concerned about germs.

I'll admit, I don't want to get sick, but I don't want the fear to be making me paranoid about it. I will do the easy things but don't want to take it beyond that.

We don't worry about germs on planes or anywhere else. We don't use hand sanitizer. My feeling is that if something like this is going to worry you, you might as well stay home.

I am a doctor and used to working in the ER/Radiology departments of a large public hospital which is known to have the highest bacteria/viruses in the hospital. Other than washing my hands I take no extra precautions on the airplane. If you have decent immunity you should be fine. Everywhere you travel in europe you will be exposed to illnesses. Of the many trips i have taken to europe I have been sick only one time on a tour with multiple people with colds.

Forget the plane, if you really want to go crazy, start researching other potentially unavoidable places on your trip: hotels, restaurants, and public transit. Think about that pole you hold on a crowded subway and all the germ filled hands that have touched it. I won't even go into hotel glasses, beds and comforters. Or you can relax, enjoy your trip and not weaken your immune system with all these precautions. p.s. I do wash up thoroughly before eating.

I also think there are the same number of germs every where we go, so what is the difference between riding in a plane or going shopping downtown? None really, so I don't even think about it. Wash my hands when I come home or before eating and that is about it. We don't use hand sanitizers either. We use public transportation exclusively too, and yeah, the subway and buses are much, much, much dirtier than a reasonably clean plane. The bedspreads and fuzzy blankets you find in American hotels are the items that creep me out. Give me a European duvet with fresh covers any day, over those.

I have not had any beverage on a plane other than wine or bottled water since last March when 3 college swim teams picked up Norovirus on their flight on the way to the NCAA finals. All three teams were on the same plane and they think it could have been the ice in their beverages. The meet had to be delayed a day so the athletes could recover.

I don't worry about any of this either. I wash my hands after using the bathroom and before I eat, and only use hand sanitizer if there's no soap available.

Good old soap and water does the trick. I do, however, wipe down the food tray with a sanitizing wipe. I've seen other people doing this as well. Most airlines I use have bottled water. I usually carry on my own. I worry more about sitting next to someone who has a bad cold and is sneezing and coughing.

I don't worry, and I don't take precautions. There are "germs" (microbes, fungi, bacteria, viruses) EVERYWHERE. If you think you can get a bottle of hand sanitizer on the plane, and it makes you feel better, then you should do that. If you'll make yourself miserable worrying, and this little precaution helps you relax and enjoy yourself, then I say go for it! Otherwise, I honestly wouldn't give it a second thought. And I work in healthcare - in an actual hospital! (Truth to tell, I'd worry about visiting a hospital, but not about flying on a plane.)

Too true Kira. It drives me nuts to see visitors at the hospital where I work sit on the floor. Yuck. They have no idea what gets tracked around on people's shoes. Dont even get me started on sending people home in isolation precautions for MRSA or other resistant bugs, then seeing them in WalMart a few days later. That's where I would worry about germs! Pam