Badenoch

Thanks. I've taken malaria pills a few times but wasn't aware of the shots. I'd be concerned about side effects because I don't react well to the pills. I stopped taking them on a couple of trips having concluded that even though I was 100 kilometers inside the CDC's malarial zone the risk was low because I was working in a small town during the dry season and was well supplied with DEET.

Proudelitist

Some people find the shots better than the pills, and other find the shots way to strong. For me, the pills made me nauseaous and therefore miserable. So I had the shot, no issues. But I know somone who had the shot and felt terribly ill, so she took the pills. Either way, still better than malaria...which you keep your whole life with flare ups every few years.

dalehill

Hand sanitizer (dispensers are usually located nearby) before and after handling the serving utensils in the airport lounge. Always. At least on the hand that handled the handle.

evergrn

I too wipe down the armrests, tray table, seatbelt buckles and any buttons (including seatback monitors), as do the rest of my family.
But I hardly ever see anyone else do this. Worse, sometimes I get the stares (sneers?) when doing this.

Badenoch

Just keep your wet wipes to yourself. I once had a woman who upon taking her seat beside me start maniacally wiping down everything around her like some sort of charwoman on meth. I agreed to her request to raise my arm so she could clean our shared armrest but drew the line when she demanded to wipe down MY tray table and screen. I resisted the temptation to cough in her general direction during the flight.

tmiw

This. I've gotten sick less often in general due to this, not just during/after trips. Getting the flu shot every year helps, too.

evergrn

That's kind of crazy for this woman to try to wipe down your tray/screen.
Of course I don't do that, and I try to do the wipe thing quickly and discreetly. Even then, I sometimes have people give me weird looks. I really hate that. Do I seem that strange and OCD to be wiping down things that are known to be filled with germs? I wish more people did the wipe-down so I don't stand out, but apparently most Americans don't think about these things.

fransknorge

I take immuno suppression medications, thus I am more susceptible to get something.
I use disinfectant wipes and wipe the armrest, table, handles, screen, etc ...
I wash my hands and disinfect them before eating, do the same after going to the toilet.
I wear a mask on flights longer than 3 hours, or if I have a sick looking neighbor on shorter ones. I use one from Vogmask
I fly business if possible, but it is always a compromise.
Touching wood, I never got really sick after a flight (caught some short lived fever or dry cough a few times though).

COSPILOT

I'm a bit a of a germaphobe but I gave up on worrying about all of this when traveling. I've slowed down and only average 60-70 flights/year. Past years I was averaging 140 flights/year, and more time in hotels that I can even recall. What amazed me is that during that time I never got sick, and can only assume my immune system was working well.

Calliopeflyer

Not American, but I do think about those things.......I just don't worry about those things. That's what a healthy immune system is supposed to handle, so the things I worry about are related to keeping my body working normally (like not getting dehydrated, getting enough sleep, eating well, etc). Those microbes on those few surfaces are a drop in the ocean compared to all the microbes you're exposed to all day every day (any day), so that's why I don't worry about it. I wouldn't say you seem strange for wiping down those things, but I do think you seem like you don't understand the situation very well if you think that will help.

lalala

this has changed my life.

Bandicoot

Or they have thought about it and don't think it matters? I accept there are germs everywhere but I've never thought the risk of getting infections from them high enough to worry especially about flights. I just follow the same precautions everywhere, on a plane or not, which are to wash my hands frequently and definitely before eating (and of course wipes may help to clean your own hands when you can't get to a washroom), and avoiding touching my face / eyes / mouth as I believe those are significant vectors for infection. Maybe that works or maybe it's luck, but I don't get ill much and certainly haven't seen any illness correlated with flying. I'd be more worried about someone coughing or sneezing next to me during the flight than the tray table and armrests - and unfortunately one can't wipe down and sanitize one's fellow passengers.

The perception of the risk of infections from flying seems mostly based on anecdotal evidence. I'd love to see any studies done on the topic.

fransknorge

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...2.2005.02651.x

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0520100420.htm

https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.c...879-018-3150-5

Badenoch

It's emotional vs. intellectual. Germs worry you which is perfectly valid because they can make you sick or even kill you. The other position is we are constantly surrounded by so many of them that wiping down an airline armrest is a futile exercise that isn't going to make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Bandicoot

Thank you for the pointers to the studies. They're interesting, and they confirm that various surfaces in airports / airplanes have nasty germs of different kinds. I accept that. What I haven't seen more about (beyond anecdotal accounts) is whether any of it matters. Surely there are similar concentrations of germs in coffee shops, subways and trains, conference rooms in busy office buildings, elevators, cafeterias, etc. etc. The question relevant for the context of flying is, is the risk posed by germs in airplanes significantly higher than the risk from similar exposure in our normal workday situations. If yes, maybe it's worth taking additional precautions to wipe down every surface, wear masks, etc. Otherwise, you have to ask, if you can live without wiping down door handles and elevator buttons and stairway handrails at every opportunity, why can't you deal with the similar risk in an airplane without wiping surfaces down. At least, that's the way I think about this - it's relative risk, not about absolute contamination levels. I also accept that people have very different needs and personal situations and for some it may be imperative to be sure that the surfaces around them are wiped down. But on the other hand maybe my comments help explain why some of us don't bother to wipe down everything, or indeed, anything.