As Thanksgiving approaches and additional winter festivities loom, this week marks the start of the year's most hectic travel period for Americans. If you're among the numerous individuals preparing to board an aircraft, you might consider heeding the counsel of a medical professional who has dedicated years to maintaining the well-being of elite athletes globally.
TL;DR
- Opt for a window seat in the middle of the aircraft to avoid high-traffic areas.
- Clean high-touch surfaces like the tray table, armrests, and seatbelt with disinfectant wipes.
- Direct your overhead air vent toward yourself to create a protective barrier against germs.
- Prioritize seven to eight hours of sleep nightly to strengthen your immune system and ward off illness.
Dr. Jonathan Finnoff holds the position of chief medical officer for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, where they establish and execute the entity's strategic approach to fostering the physical and mental well-being of Team USA competitors, both during and outside of their athletic pursuits. In 2019, they received the designation of Most Valuable Section Editor from Current Sports Medicine Reports, a medical publication affiliated with The American College of Sports Medicine. Their prior roles include serving as medical director for the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center located in Minneapolis, acting as a team physician for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA's Lynx, and accompanying Team USA to numerous Olympic Games. Furthermore, they are an athlete in their own right—an accomplished mountain biker.
In a interview with The Wall Street Journal released at the beginning of this month, and a related TikTok video uploaded on Monday, Finnoff outlined four crucial methods to prevent contracting an illness while traveling by air.
Choose the right seat
Seats matter—not just to get on and off the plane faster, but also to keep you healthier.
Finnoff advises that to avoid germs, opt for a window seat, ideally situated toward the aircraft's midsection. This positioning helps you bypass the plane's busiest zones, such as the entry area and restrooms.
Studies back Finnoff’s suggestion. One 2018 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Emory University and Georgia Tech researchers determined that occupying a window seat and remaining there throughout the journey could be your most effective strategy to avoid contracting illnesses from other travelers.
An investigation into passenger activity in the economy section on cross-country journeys revealed that individuals occupying window seats exhibited a significantly lower tendency to stand during flights. Specifically, merely around 40% of window seat occupants rose, in contrast to 80% of those seated in aisle positions. Furthermore, window seat passengers averaged a mere 12 interactions with fellow travelers per flight, whereas aisle seat occupants averaged 64.
Clean a select few areas
If Naomi Campbell does it, perhaps you ought to consider it. We're not suggesting strutting down the aisle, but rather carrying disinfectant wipes for your journeys. Finnoff advises cleaning surfaces you're likely to contact: the seatbelt, armrests, air vent, and even the restroom door, if you (quite possibly) have to use it.
But the most critical surface you should clean? The tray table.
A 2015 study by TravelMath dispatched a microbiologist to gather specimens from five airports and four air journeys, finding that tray tables contained 2,155 colony-forming units of bacteria per square inch. This figure is over eight times the quantity of bacteria detected on lavatory flush buttons, which showed only 265 colony-forming units.
For comparison, a typical home toilet seat has roughly 172 colony-forming units per square inch.
The difference arises partly because flight crews have restricted intervals between flights for comprehensive sanitization, whereas lavatories receive more regular upkeep.
Air nozzle at every seat. Use it.
Finnoff specifically highlighted the overhead air vent. The recommended action is to aim the air nozzle in the space between yourself and the adjacent individual, establishing a protective shield against germs.
Although studies investigating if separate air vents substantially decrease the likelihood of transmission have yielded inconsistent findings, with European and American health organizations providing differing guidance—certain specialists are of the opinion that the turbulence created in your personal air space could aid in stopping airborne particles from settling on you.
The majority of contemporary aircraft interiors are equipped with hospital-grade HEPA filters capable of filtering out 99.97% of airborne particles, such as bacteria and viruses, while circulating air twenty to thirty times each hour.
The science of sleep
Rest. Indeed, rest. It's not merely pleasant for blocking out surroundings—and your companions, though possibly irritating, on your journey—but it also enhances your body's defenses. As much of the existing studies indicate, Finnoff states that individuals traveling require seven to eight hours of restorative slumber nightly to aid in warding off sickness.
A study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine discovered that slumber modifies the DNA's architecture within immune stem cells, and regularly obtaining fewer than seven hours may elevate inflammation and vulnerability to illness. According to Yale Medicine, individuals who persistently sleep less than seven hours are thrice as prone to contracting the common cold when contrasted with those who habitually sleep eight hours or beyond.