I know this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find the thread.

Yesterday we were in a plane with a sick woman. Cough, cough, cough. Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze, etc. The plane was sold out. Now my travel companion says she is coming down with something and I don't feel too good, either.

Is there anything I could have done? First thing we did after deboarding was rush to the washroom and scrub.

Its very difficult, but during the flight, try diligently to not place your hands anywhere near your nose. Otherwise, there is nothing you could/can do.

Any vacent seats...distance helps some, IMHO.

By the way, basis the results of recent studies, it seems that very dangerous organisms can survive for a number of hrs on surfaces hence one must avoid if possible contact with your ands and mouth, eyes, nose. Also, I recommend that you wash your hands often.

PS I always carry tamiflu, zithromax, etc. on all flights.

Alcohol, applied internally.

I believe that Vitamins actuall provide a growth medium - if they're good for you, imagine what a germ can do with 'em!

cyanide gom jabbar

Thanks. I will take your advice. It has worked before for me. I will go to the "pharmacy" and get the "medicine". (no HMO prior approval required!)

I hope you both stay healthy. Actually, I suspect that most of my illnesses are contracted while flying. I also understand that in some cases infection is spread even before any symptoms are evident, i.e., before anyone is aware of any illness in themselves or in others. Ultimately I doubt that there's much we can do to avoid catching sickness from fellow passengers, whether in aircraft, subways, or buses, or indeed from fellow concert or movie patrons, or from those we live with and work with.

Frankly, I sympathize with anyone who is sick while flying. It's not a pleasant situation in which to be sick, there being no opportunity for privacy or seclusion. I recall an earlier thread (not sure if it was this forum or not) in which the poster denounced an adjacent passenger for flying while having a cold. I didn't write anything at the time but I thought that the poster's attitude was both unrealistic and callous. Am I supposed to stay back in Kuala Lumpur an extra few days till I recover from my cold? My wife and my employer would have plenty to say about that!

I never travel without Airborne

I like the lemon-lime flavor - I find it kind of tastes like Sprite. I like to have one before I get on a plane, or if I feel like I'm starting to come down with something. I think you can get a free sample on their website; but pretty much every major grocery/drugstore chain carries it. ^

Have you tried Airborne? I take one every three hours when I travel and I rarely get sick.

GG

Have you tried Placebo? I hear it works at least a third of the time, and I rarely get sick either.

Very funny. Do you know anything about Airborne?

Once flew with blocked sinus(es) which is painful at most times, but during climb/descend it is not funny. My fate was also that day we would be at 39,000 feet! This was an easyjet flight and despite all my medication (well a decongestant) I still felt like my head was going to explode.

I also never travel without Airborne. I don't know if it's mental or not, but it seems to work for me and I rarely get sick. That said, it always floors me when people who are extremely, contagiously ill choose to fly. In August I flew IAD-LAX-NRT. On the IAD-LAX flight, I was in the last row of FC. Right before landing the pilot makes an announcement requesting that everyone stay in their seats because paramedics are going to come on and take off a sick pax. I was in the last row of F and they'd moved the pax to the first row of Y, so I watched them wheel him off. Turns out the guy had chicken pox, with visible lesions and everything! How he managed to board without someone noticing is beyond me.

I carry Airborne and Emergen 'C in my carry-on. It always seems that if I'm going to get anything its going to be on the return trip. When I was flying back from SIN last year I caught some awful bug (might have picked it up in the Phils tho) that hit hard and fast the morning of my return flight. That morning I thought it might be coldish but by the time I got to NRT I was thinking I might need to go to the hospital as I was achy and feverish. Well what are you supposed to do in-transit and in a foreign country??? I picked up some meds in the gift shop hoping for the best. Unfortunately the directions were in Japanese and the gift shop people didn't speak english so when I boarded the plane I asked if anyone in C could read japanese. This very nice asian fellow read the package and told me it was just for sore throats and cough. Five mins later he came up to me with something he said would make me feel better and at that point I was willing to take something a stranger would give me. Whatever it was turned out to be great. It knocked me out for most of the 14 hour flight and by the time I got to JFK I was feeling normal but tired.

I think the other issue with flying and feeling unwell is even if you want to postpone your flight a day or two until you recover, the airlines aren't that forgiving. Unless its a medical emergency they won't change your flights free of charge if you are on a restricted ticket.

I travelled LHR to JFK on AA in F recently and I had a pretty rough sounding cough. Unfortunately for personal reasons it was critical that I travelled but I felt really guilty. I am confident I was past the infectous stage of illness (I had been ill for the previous week actually so 7 days should make me safe) but I got some real dirty looks.