Pathogens On A Plane: How To Stay Healthy In Flight

Who knew that the air vent was helpful. A few pointers for staying physically healthy while traveling, which certainly can’t hurt when working on your mental health!

1. Sanitize your hands: Bring aboard a sanitizing gel with 60 percent alcohol, Gendreau recommends. Use the sanitizer before you eat or drink. And then use it after you wash your hands in the airplane’s bathroom. Water on planes has a dirty record.

2. Blow away airborne microbes: To keep from catching a pathogen in the plane’s recycled air, use the vent above your head. Set the ventilation at low or medium. Then position it so you can draw an imaginary line of current right in front of your head. When you put your hands on your lap, you should feel the current. Then if something infectious is floating in your personal space, Gendreau says, that air from the vent will create enough current to knock it away.