Hey everybody! I'm a longtime lurker and first-time poster.

This week I was waiting for takeoff on a 6-hour domestic flight and overheard a woman on her phone in the seat directly behind me. She said those two words that strike dread into any flyer: "I'm sick."

She mentioned that she had just connected from a long international flight and sounded optimistic that she was getting better. An hour later, she couldn't stop coughing. I'm talking about hundreds of coughs per hour. I don't have any indication it was something exotic, but it was at least a cold or flu. I felt terrible for her and nervous for me.

There's been an assortment of FT threads on handling coughing, sneezing, hacking and wheezing passengers. Many suggest offering some tissue so they're reminded to cover up. Others point out the obvious precautions: hand washing, sleep, lowering intensity of workouts, vitamin c, hydrating, etc. There was also some discussion of masks and debate over how effective they are. Some don't think they help the wearer, but if the wearer is sick it may protect others. I happened to have an N95 surgical mask in my bag and wore it while I was sleeping. It wasn't very comfortable to wear for hours, but it gave me some (potentially false) peace of mind. Maybe I should have offered it to her, but there was no wifi and I didn't get the idea until I finally got on FT after we landed.

It's 2014, isn't there something more effective that flyers can do to stay healthy when fellow passengers are sick?