Joe Bidden says dont fly on the airlines!

But we can all relax, Acadia knows more about public health policy than the parades of public policy experts who have been explaining why Biden is wrong.

The CDC said they would love to eliminate all elective travel when this kind of thing flares up, but they know that is impossible.

Was there really a need to this personal jab? I never claimed to be an expert; I simply agree with Bidens opinion on this topic, and there are "experts" who supported him yesterday as well. I am sorry that my opinion is not congruent with yours.
 
Bottom line: Non-essential travel to Mexico is discouraged (NOT prohibited, just discouraged). So, for the above example, unless this businessperson's trip is absolutely essential, s/he probably shouldn't go at ALL, regardless of means of transportation to get there.

Airplanes put people in close contact with other people, but it's NOT worth freaking out about. If you're a germ-o-phobe, stay off of planes, buses & trains, stay out of malls & stores, don't touch a grocery store cart, and buy a heavy duty respirator (surgical masks don't cut it, sorry).

I am still failing to buy into the hype. I am making my kids wash their hands more often, but I know kids are kids and there's NO way I'll eliminate all germs that they'll get into.


Keep 'em away from the home computer keyboard too! I heard that it contains 400 types of germs (more than a toilet seat). :buck: Once again, the media is fueling the fires to throw everyone into a panic. Guaranteed that some slick marketer puts some kind of anti-bacterial handwash or gel on the market "specifically" for swine flu, when in reality it's the same stuff that's been sold for years (except it will have different packaging). Oh yeah AND except that they'll double or triple the price of it! :rolleyes:

I'm not saying people shouldn't take precautions--but these are precautions that should be taken every day--washing hands, covering your mouth when you sneeze (with your sleeve), etc. etc.
More than 30,000 people died in the US last winter from the good ol' regular flu.
 
Keep 'em away from the home computer keyboard too! I heard that it contains 400 types of germs (more than a toilet seat). :buck:

Good point! Keyboards, remote controls & telephones are also big harborers of germs. I actually know people who wrap hotel remotes in sandwich baggies to avoid having to actually touch them! (All things considered, that's not a half-bad idea! :laff:)
 
How is a planes air circulated? Is fresh air constantly funneled through or is it recirculated? What about the pilots? I am just curious. I would assume that if it is recirculated it would also be cleaned in some way?
 
How is a planes air circulated? Is fresh air constantly funneled through or is it recirculated? What about the pilots? I am just curious. I would assume that if it is recirculated it would also be cleaned in some way?

Some fresh air comes in but most of it gets recirculated. If you can imagine the air at FL370 is roughly -60C, to constantly bring that air in and heat it would be difficult. Instead the plane will recirculate air from the cabin that has already been conditioned and adjust it's temperature, mixing it to some degree with outside air to get the desired temperature.

The pilots breath the same air as the passengers unless we're on a mask in which case we have our own oxygen bottle.

As far as the air being "cleaned." I think there is some filtration system. Though I don't believe it would filter things as small as a virus.

If you can imagine, a bacteria (different than a virus) is roughly 1/10-1/1000 the size of a typical human cell...Well a virus is roughly 10 times smaller than that! Remember all a virus really is, is some genetic material (DNA or RNA) encapsulated in a coating (protein usually). They are really really really small. I doubt the airplane filtration system can do much.
 
Ironic that the very people that take a lot of those buses can't afford to stay home sick.....

About as ironic as the email I got from ASA about swine flu saying that one of the best things you can do if you're sick is to stay home....and get an occurrence.
 
First 100 days: The most used phrase by the White House Press Secretary -

"What the Vice President meant to say was..."
 
Some fresh air comes in but most of it gets recirculated. If you can imagine the air at FL370 is roughly -60C, to constantly bring that air in and heat it would be difficult. Instead the plane will recirculate air from the cabin that has already been conditioned and adjust it's temperature, mixing it to some degree with outside air to get the desired temperature.

The pilots breath the same air as the passengers unless we're on a mask in which case we have our own oxygen bottle.

As far as the air being "cleaned." I think there is some filtration system. Though I don't believe it would filter things as small as a virus.

If you can imagine, a bacteria (different than a virus) is roughly 1/10-1/1000 the size of a typical human cell...Well a virus is roughly 10 times smaller than that! Remember all a virus really is, is some genetic material (DNA or RNA) encapsulated in a coating (protein usually). They are really really really small. I doubt the airplane filtration system can do much.

Then it would appear that his statement is at least partially accurate.

If someone on the plane has a cold/flu and sneezes that germ will be circulated over and over again.

The same could be said for any closed environment but a train and bus with their frequent stops are letting in more fresh air than the plane at altitude, I would assume.

It may have been dumb of him to specifically call out the airline industry, but it doesnt change the fact that his statement is accurate.
 
I really think that because people get dried out when flying they immediately think that its nastiness caused by "recirculated" air.

Yup. I had to explain to my "Mommy" chat board people that air on an airplane is NOT the constantly recirculated germ-filled nasty-ness that people seem to think it is.
 
Good point! Keyboards, remote controls & telephones are also big harborers of germs. I actually know people who wrap hotel remotes in sandwich baggies to avoid having to actually touch them! (All things considered, that's not a half-bad idea! :laff:)

I had dinner with the inbound crew in LYS last week and the FO was so proud of himself that he brings his own sheets on the road with him.

...but couldn't figure out the uproarious laughter when he pulled out three $20 bills, USD of course.

I really think that you can protect yourself with anti-bacterial soap, bringing your own sheets, yadda yadda yadda, but it's more emotional than it is true protection because there's nothing wrong with hotel sheets as bed bugs usually congregate behind the headboard or underneath the mattress. Or covering up the remote with plastic because your doorknob is even dirtier, or if you go out for a beer, that glass you're drinking out of was probably washed in cheap sanitizer under lukewarm water and you're drinking after a few hundred people, all at different levels of sickness.

Just like how the Germans have a "no clothes" policy in the spa. The spa's not dirty, you are! So pre-shower and leave your civvies in the locker room.

There's always a 'dirty dining' news report on TV, but I'll bet you if you look in the average person's refridgerator, it's a cesspool of bacteria, improper food storage, etc.
 
I had dinner with the inbound crew in LYS last week and the FO was so proud of himself that he brings his own sheets on the road with him.

...but couldn't figure out the uproarious laughter when he pulled out three $20 bills, USD of course.

I really think that you can protect yourself with anti-bacterial soap, bringing your own sheets, yadda yadda yadda, but it's more emotional than it is true protection because there's nothing wrong with hotel sheets as bed bugs usually congregate behind the headboard or underneath the mattress. Or covering up the remote with plastic because your doorknob is even dirtier, or if you go out for a beer, that glass you're drinking out of was probably washed in cheap sanitizer under lukewarm water and you're drinking after a few hundred people, all at different levels of sickness.

Just like how the Germans have a "no clothes" policy in the spa. The spa's not dirty, you are! So pre-shower and leave your civvies in the locker room.

There's always a 'dirty dining' news report on TV, but I'll bet you if you look in the average person's refridgerator, it's a cesspool of bacteria, improper food storage, etc.

It also seems that those who take 10 mins to wipe down everything they might touch in the cockpit with those alcohol wipes get sick the most. If you go ahead and get sick with all those germs, you're set for life. The only thing I wipe down is whichever headset I use. I'm too poor to buy my own headset so I still use the company provided ones.
 
Whatever happened to eating dirt, getting rocks/dirt embedded into your skinned knees and having good old fun out in the inclement weather. Enough with anti-bacterial-which-creates-suberbugs already and go back to the basics. Embrace the trillions of germs everyday and build up some immunity to them. The Human body FTW.
 
May 1, 2009 - 3:07 PM
Air passengers to Zurich may have flu virus
Health authorities are studying the condition of 19 people suspected of carrying the H1N1 virus behind the "swine flu" outbreak, but more people may be infected.
Patrick Mathys, a Federal Health Office representative, urged anyone who flew on US Airways flight 804 from Cancún to Philadelphia and US Airways flight 710 from Philadelphia to Zurich on April 25 to contact a doctor.

A traveller onboard those flights had been infected with H1N1, an influenza A virus. Fellow passengers may have contracted the germs, Mathys told a news conference in Bern on Friday.

Of the 35 total cases brought before the Swiss health authorities so far, 15 have tested negative. One person, a 19-year-old man, has tested positive.

Officials said he has a mild form of the flu and is recovering.

Authorities said they believe the virus could infect four times as many people as in a normal flu season.

From swissinfo
 
I agree that his advice is sound, but right now is not warranted.

Not taking sides, but if you believe his advice is sound, then why shouldn't it be offered?

I do agree that if you are sick you should not get on a plane or public transportation. Yes, I know that airlines are having a tough time with the economy the way it is. So be it. If the advice is sound, then it's sound regardless of whether the economy is booming or in the crapper.
 
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