Everybody loves a holiday. Whether it’s a long weekend away to a nearby city or a long-haul flight to the other side of the world, the one thing that makes every flight worth it is the destination you’re heading to.
Most people are aware of the increased likelihood of getting sick when you travel on a plane. The confined space on board, the germ-infested tray tables and the barely-clean public toilets are enough to make your skin crawl. However, there is another, less conspicuous place in the airport that is actually dirtier than a toilet.
A new study conducted in Europe by a team of scientists from the University of Nottingham and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare has found that the plastic trays used at airport security checkpoints carry the highest level of viruses at the airport.
After collecting surface and air samples at different times during peak flu season in Finland from 2015 to 2016, the scientists found traces of at least one respiratory virus on 10 per cent of the surface samples they took.
The trays were found to be the worst threat to your health, with 50 per cent carrying the common cold virus, the flu virus, or both. Even the sample they took at airport toilets didn’t carry these viruses, which suggests we are more aware of hang hygiene in the bathroom than at the security checkpoint.
Better not forget to pack the hand sanitiser.
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