Stars4SA

http://www.planesheets.com/

djcutcher

on the relative INEFFICACY (towards protecting you from viruses) of just about any simple mask you or I could buy---and of the sort that I see on traffic police in Bangkok.
There, I gather, such masks are intended as particulate filters, though if any air needed to be filtered for noxious gases, that on any busy Bangkok street would be prime candidate, for sure!
Still, one of my docs there, and whom I saw ~10 days ago, knowing how much I fly, and the recent news of flightborne TB transmission, urged me to "have my lungs checked every 6 months."
NOTE: he did NOT say, "and wear a mask on board..."
Anyway, you'd have to be absolutely certain there was no leakage at the edges of the mask, and I personally, and in very short order, would be driven buggy by anything that clung that closely to my face.
YMMV

gojirasan

I had to laugh at your comments. I would indeed assume that a lot of people would assume that I am the one who is sick. And since I am not sneezing or coughing or sniffling they might even assume that whatever I have is truly horrid. Of course the masks that I am looking at have exhalation valves. So they don't filter the exhaled air at all. It would be a truly pointless exercise to wear them to protect the rest of the passengers. I doubt most people would take notice of this fact however.

On my last flight I saw a passenger wearing what looked like a real N95 mask and it does look kind of silly to me. I wasn't sitting near him. So any pondering about his motivations coming from fear of getting sick or fear of infecting other passengers seemed pointless. I think I would prefer to be thought of as germphobic than contagious with something. Although the practical consequences of scaring away any other passengers in my row are rather nice.

I probably am more germ conscious than most people. I don't generally use those alcohol gels to clean my hands or try to wipe down my seat or armrests with anything, but then I basically won't eat hand food unless I have just washed my hands. And I won't eat anything that drops on the floor even if it is possible to wash it off. The only exception being expensive prescription drugs. I will often swallow those even if I drop them on the floor first.

The reason for wanting to wear the mask on long flights is practical. Based on my own experience I do catch at least a cold after most flights. And I don't get those 3 day colds like some people seem to. We are talking at least 10 days of sniffling and sneezing and not wanting to get out of bed. And I just became tired of it being a part of my travel experience. The one time I did use a mask I didn't get sick. While a single instance is not particularly persuasive, a N100 mask is basically a HEPA filter. Logically it should protect me from inhaling any airborne viruses while I am wearing it. I am not afraid of the bird flu or SARS or any kind of "swine flu" in particular. It's just that my arrival in a foreign country is going to be stressful enough without having to deal with a constantly running nose or coughing and sneezing. If I can prevent any chance of that by wearing a mask it might be worth it. It is a chance to exchange about 24 hours of (additional) discomfort on the plane for 2 weeks of even worse discomfort after I arrive.

IrishRed

Antibacterial wipes kill 'germs' including bacteria, viruses, etc. Getting technical, the alcohol or other anti-bacterial agent kills the 'host' of the virus, and since viruses can't live without the host, they die, too.

Of course there is a huge debate whether wipes/hand sanitizers are good or bad, since they kill the good bacteria, too, and it's speculated they can actually help spread things like MRSA.

But regardless, I'd rather wipe down my seating area in case the passenger before me left some microbial presents...

JerryFF

It's certainly your choice what you prefer to do, but "getting technical" the host of a human virus is a human, not a bacterium, so an anti-bacterial wipe does not kill the host of a virus that infects humans. Viruses that infect humans such as the influenza virus do not and cannot infect bacteria - bacteria are not hosts for human viruses.

So killing bacteria will not protect you in any way from flu viruses or any other human virus, whether they are being spread in the air or left on hard surfaces. If you think wiping your seat area with anti-bacterial wipes protects you against human viruses, you are mistaken. I don't mean to criticize or sound harsh, but your information is not correct.

GalleyWench

I've seen several people on airplanes wearing masks here in the US and have never given it a second thought. People wear them for many different reasons, some are trying to avoid getting sick, some are trying to avoid passing their cold on to someone else, some are going through chemo and trying to keep their immune systems up, one guy had recently undergone a lung transplant and was trying to minimize his chances of catching something.
After working on airplanes for so many years on top of having 2 kids in various stages of school I think I'm immune to just about every cough and cold out there and rarely get sick...knock on wood.
My mom swears that she gets some kind of respiratory ailment every time she flies, now she never boards an airplane without taking Airbourne for a couple of days before travel. She swears by that stuff, but I've personally never taken it and can testify if it helps or not.

IrishRed

I'm going to give you this one, since I was mistaking anti-bacterial wipes for sanitizing wipes, which claim to kill viruses:

From the Lysol website: "When used as directed LYSOL® Sanitizing Wipes kill RSV and Influenza A2 on hard, nonporous surfaces."

That said, cleaning up my tray and seat arms, even with just an anti-bacterial wipe, *may* prevent me from planting my hand in someone else's snot or sputum. Whether it kills all the virus or not, here's to hoping that most of it sticks to the wipe

Regardless, nothing is as good as a thorough handwashing, right?

JerryFF

Your point about Lysol is well taken and they do claim that it gets viruses as well. Having worked for many years with both bacteria and viruses, I have personal doubts about their claims, but you are absolutely right about what the Lysol folks say about their product. And from everything I know, you are absolutely correct that compulsive handwashing with soap (the suds are important) is the best protection.

gojirasan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090426/..._flu_emergency

Haha. I didn't see this coming. Ironically I think any US swine flu panic is going to help the social acceptability of wearing a mask on even US domestic flights, at least for the moment. If this continues to be hyped I won't feel as self conscious about it. If someone looks at me funny I can just smile and say "swine flu" and maybe shrug my shoulders. They will probably find that even more alarming though . I wish I didn't care at all about what other people think, but I do. I can't help it. Anyway, this is maybe bad news for anyone who catches it, but it seems to be good news for me.

Stars4SA

I think I am taking wipes on my next trip, thanks for sharing.

peachfront

Well, if you "had to laugh at my comments," then you didn't read or at least you didn't understand what I wrote. It's pretty simple. A cold does not last 10 days. If you get a "cold" every time you fly, you have something else wrong with you. I don't want you to get sick. I want you to get well. Wearing a silly face mask is not really going to accomplish that, in my humble opinion. Obviously, I am not a doctor, just a simple allergy sufferer who can fly perfectly well without getting sick now that I have received proper testing, diagnosis, and treatment. So that's where I'm coming from.

I hate to say it, but sometimes the most obvious answer is THE answer. You think you are sick. You keep getting sick again. Therefore, you should see a doctor. If you have an allergy, the doctor can treat your allergy. Sinus, the doctor can treat the sinus. You seem to think you have a germ phobia, but guess what? We are beyond the days when Howard Hughes had to take to his bed for obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are even good modern medicines for phobias and OTC. There are medicines for clinical depression as well -- "not wanting to get out of bed" for 10 days with a "cold" should send a few warning flags up. Most of us who get colds are itching and twitching to hurry up and get out of bed and back to business. So that's a concern too.

I don't want to offend you, amuse you, or make you laugh. I think I want you to see a doctor and find out why you are suffering such severe symptoms, because it's highly likely that you are suffering needlessly from something that is entirely treatable. Just like my allergies.

iomatic

As mentioned before, I've spoken with quite a few people from Asia who remark that for the most part, the sick generally don these masks to prevent spreading, rather than protecting themselves. A courtesy thing. Probably not all cases, but anyway, an interesting anecdote.

In response to the OP, I suppose nowadays it's not very strange anymore:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/27...flu/index.html

ELB

I noticed everyone is saying masks are not effective in protecting you, that is false. There is only one type of disposable mask that will protect you and that is an N95. It filters 95% of particulates you are breathing. Much of the flu virions are carried in airborn sputum; these particulates are large enough to be trapped by the filters of N95. A surgical mask only protects you (if you are sick) from other people.

I am traveling to AZ on Friday, and I have my final exams the following week. I will be wearing an N95 when I travel. I do not want to chance illness with finals the next week.

Physicians are trained to wear these masks when dealing with influenza and TB cases in the hospital. I know because I fit test these masks to the incoming residents.

How do you know if the mask you are buying is an N95? It is required that mask manufacturer place that on the label. Here is an example:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3KP43

I used to buy all my employees N95 masks from Grainger, this is an example of those ones I used to purchase.

EOS

BRILLIANT AND THOUGHTFUL AND THOUGH-PROVOKING POST AND RESPONSES:
This is one of the best posts! There is definitely an OCD theme going on--(I used to use Purell on flights, did not get colds, now no longer use Purell wipes etc and still don't get colds on flights.)and 'fear of flying' themes transposed and subsumed and sublimated into 'fear of germs' theme posts.
This post and thread speak to real concerns about flying--which are often not addressed. Little information is available on in-flight health, especially when there is an epidemic outbreak. Comments on this post are astute and helpful, for the most part.
The only time I wore a surgical on board mask was when SARS was a concern, and it was the one time I caught a cold.
I asked an ENT specialist if it might be a good idea to put antibacterial Neosporin in the nose to kill germs in the nose--and he said, no, as it would also kill the good ones you need in there.
Best advice: consult a doctor about personal medical concerns. Take responsibility for your health and comfort on board. Take any medications necessary or potentially required.. Fly fit! Fly with stamina and strength. Be prepared, not fearful.

robyng

FWIW - I have a flight in a couple of weeks - and bought a box of N95 masks on Amazon on Friday. They were on sale . They are now sold out. . Robyn