What Are the Odds You'll Catch Swine Flu on Your Next Flight?
We just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy National Influenza Vaccination Week. To celebrate, we’re letting you know about the latest findings from smarty-pants scientists. They have figured out some kind of formula to determine how exactly the H1N1 virus can spread in a plane during a transatlantic flight. Everything really depends on the length of the flight, but for the most part, two to 17 people could be infected from just one sick passenger.
In case you want to run your own test studies, researchers at UCLA used the Wells-Riley equation. Apparently this is the standard when it comes to figuring out the extent of outbreaks in enclosed environments. It considers the number of people exposed, respiratory rates, and the concentration of the virus over time. Interesting information, but we’re probably going to leave all the calculations up to the experts.
Why coach passengers are doomed, after the jump.
Scientists found out something that most of us already assumed—if you’re flying in coach you’re more likely to catch things than if you were seated in comfy first class. It’s kind of obvious since there are just way more people in the back of the plane, and that’s where we usually find our seats—great.
Flights over 17 hours long are where things get especially bad, because here the likelihood of someone spreading the virus ranges between seven and 17. Overall, we don’t think the numbers and risk are that bad. Obviously we hope not to be one of the victims, but we kind of thought things aboard a flight could be much worse. This will be in the back of our minds, but we’ll keep flying. After all, if we don’t travel due to H1N1, then the Swine Flu wins.
Related Stories:
· How H1N1 Virus Spreads In An Airplane [EmaxHealth]
· Have You Encountered Swine Flu In Your Travels This Year? [Jaunted]
· Travel Health coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: kyle simourd]
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