Raise your hand if you've ever gotten sick after traveling by air. And I'm not talking about air sickness... I'm talking about colds, flu, etc.
I've heard a lot of people blaming the recycled air on the plane... but we now have another culprit.
Airport security bins.
A new study published in the BioMed Central Infectious Diseases journal indicates that half of airport plastic security bins contain viruses.
Great. So you've got a 50/50 chance of coming into contact with those viruses when you put your keys, and pocket change, AND YOUR PHONE (which comes in contact with your FACE) in those bins.
So, just like at the grocery store when you see wipes for the carts, we'll probably start seeing wipes or hand sanitizer at airport security. That's one thing researchers are calling for. (And at least one airport is already promising that to passengers....see below.)
They also want those baggage trays to be cleaned and disinfected regularly.
So do we!
Just think about that plane yesterday.
The Emirates flight left Dubai with more than 500 passengers and it was detained at JFK Airport in New York because several passengers became sick. Health officials screened the passengers and found 19 who were sick. Ten were taken to the hospital.
Think about the bins they touched at the airport before they got on that plane.
Fun fact. Vanilla Ice (the rapper best known for his hit "Ice, Ice, Baby") was on that plane. He tweeted that he was on the upper floor, and that most of the people who were sick were on the lower floor of the plane.
Speaking of getting sick on a plane... here's Murphy's story. It's not for the faint of heart...