30 March 2005
People who travel on airplanes are no more likely to become sick than those on the ground, a study by Monash University researchers has found.
Dr Karin Leder and Dr David Newman from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine found infectious diseases were no more likely to be transmitted in a plane cabin than they were in day-to-day life.
Their study was published in January in the Internal Medicine Journal.
Dr Leder said people who sat close to someone with an infectious disease were likely to be infected during air travel, but not if they were simply on the same plane.
"The public often thinks that going on a plane will make them sick," she said.
She said fears the recirculated air in plane cabins contributed to the spread of disease were unfounded.
"The only way people will get sick is if someone is sitting close enough to cough on them."
The air inside plane cabins came from two sources -- half from outside the plane and half recirculated within the cabin.
Air from outside the plane is sterile because of the high altitude and because it is heated under pressure to remove all bacteria before being circulated.
The air that is recirculated is taken from small sections of the plane -- such as single rows of seats -- and redistributed to the section from which it came so that any disease particles are kept localized.
Dr Leder said other conditions during flight -- such as low humidity in the cabin -- could cause dry throats and coughs, leading people to believe they had picked up an infection. | 
