How often do you get sick?

Mark815

Mark815

Well-Known Member
This is more for the airline crowd, but I'd like to hear from folks in all aspects of aviation. How often do you get sick? I ask because for about the 5th or 6th time this year, I'm dealing with a cold again. Prior to coming to the airlines, I'd catch a cold maybe once a year, some years I'd never even get sick. I've now been at the airlines for about a year and a half, and I've been sick almost every other month. I'm sure the disgusting cockpits, nasty terminals and being surrounded by the general population day in, day out doesn't help, but I'm wondering if getting sick is common for the airline guys. Gotta admit, it's becoming incredibly frustrating.
 
Every major holiday :D


But seriously, it depends from year to year for me.

I used to get sick about twice a year, generally in the spring and fall, but lately it has been hit or miss.

Last year was just once and it was for an ear infection of all things...
 
I get a cold once a year and rarely ever get the flu. I keep sanizter up front and wipe down the controls first flight of the day.
 
Erik10 said:
I get a cold once a year and rarely ever get the flu. I keep sanizter up front and wipe down the controls first flight of the day.
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This is something I try to do now, but it's really difficult as we swap planes so often, but at my last gig since we kept the aircraft for up to a week, my normal routine was to lysol wipe the cockpit. I'm convinced being constantly exposed to airliners, terminals and just the general public is causing this. This job is turning me into a germaphobe...
 
http://health.universityofcalifornia.edu/2012/12/13/cold-supplements-from-airborne-to-zinc/

Bottom line
There’s no convincing evidence that any supplement can prevent or treat colds. “Cold remedies,” including many over-the-counter drugs, may well make you feel better, since they have a strong placebo effect. That is, if you expect or hope that a remedy is going to help, there’s a fair chance it will, whether it contains vitamins, herbs or just plain old sugar. And, of course, remedies may seem to work because colds go away on their own. Though we don’t recommend them, it probably can’t hurt to take such products when you feel a cold coming on, but taking them throughout cold season, as is sometimes recommended, increases the risk of adverse effects.
 
Erik10 said:
I keep sanizter up front and wipe down the controls first flight of the day.
Click to expand...
This is probably the best thing you can do. I keep dayquil severe with me. I start popping those when I feel something coming on and for me that seems to help. I've been in the regional game for the last 1.5 years and the first year was rough on my body. However the past few months I've been fine so I must have built up an immunity to some of it.
 
I got sick a TON my first year and a half at an airline. Now, almost never.

That said, I now have allergies that I didn't have as a child that kick my ass from time to time. I've never understood that one. It's like my body went, "oh, I forgot to mention. I don't like this crap."
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I got sick a TON my first year and a half at an airline. Now, almost never.

That said, I now have allergies that I didn't have as a child that kick my ass from time to time. I've never understood that one. It's like my body went, "oh, I forgot to mention. I don't like this crap."
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Most likely caused by travelling and being exposed to pollens you didn't experience growing up. Texas overnights in January sound great until my allergies blow up.
 
It's pretty normal for first year airline guys to be sick all the time. Which sucks because you have no accrued sick time at that point. Whether it's from being stuck in a tube with recycled sick passenger air all day, touch the yoke and thrust levers and all the switches (are you wiping down the checklists too?) that god knows how many disgusting pilots have sneezed on before you, the exposure to various pollens you aren't familiar with or, just being run down from trying to adapt to 4 day trips and (well, pre 117) massive amounts of body clock flipping, it's pretty normal.
 
Cessnaflyer said:
I would get sick once in the fall and another time in spring.
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drunkenbeagle said:
Every time I am on vacation, like clockwork.
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I train over the US and see a lot of sick students that can't take the class off. As such, I usually get sick in the fall when the leaves go, and the spring when the flowers bloom due to allergies. However, I REALLY get sick if I have a few days off, like clockwork. I fear taking a 3 or 4 day weekend now. It's not ideal.
 
Once or twice a year I am sick enough to call off work. It ALWAYS coincides with an increase of junk in my diet, every single time. It gets cold outside, cravings for comfort food go up, everyone else is sick, and I lay in bed watching the price is right for a day or two.
 
Erik10 said:
I get a cold once a year and rarely ever get the flu. I keep sanizter up front and wipe down the controls first flight of the day.
Click to expand...
I wipe down my console at my ATC facility often, I've seen what other people have done to them. I hate sitting down and I place my fingers all over the trackball and it's all greasy from the slob that was just there.

As for being sick, I've been pretty lucky in not getting sick more than once every 1.5 years or so. Surprising since I have three wondering petri dishes at home and a work environment where people come in sick because they used all their sick leave being "sick" :-)

(Now I'm going to get sick because it's been quite a while since I've had a cold or flu)
 
When I was a FO I would get sick often. FO can't afford to call out sick. So they would fly sick and spread their germs. Now that I'm a captain I try and wipe down everything. But most captains call out sick cause they can.
 
Diet may be the best preventative thing Ive found. Cutting put processed food helped tremendously.
 
I worked charter stuff for a couple years before the regionals. I seemed to get sick almost every other month working charter. Variable hours, but I think the big factor was cleaning up the back of the plane and picking up the passenger's mess. I should've warn gloves or washed my hands. At the airlines I am very careful about using sanitizer before getting my hands near my food and my face. I also keep my distance from sick crew members (I don't care if it seems rude, I'd rather be healthy). At first signs of a cold, I have found Zicam helps shorten the length and intensity, compared to how I used to get.
 
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