Study Confirms That Security Line In Airport Is A Hotbed For Viruses : Goats and Soda : NPR
▻https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/09/08/645255357/where-are-the-most-viruses-in-an-airport-hint-its-probably-not-the-toilet
When you go through airport security, you might wish you had a pair of gloves on like the TSA agents do.
Researchers have evidence that the plastic trays in security lines are a haven for respiratory viruses. The trays likely harbor more of these pathogens than the flushing button on the airport toilets, researchers reported last week in BMC Infectious Diseases.
[...]
The study was teeny-weenie. Virologists looked for viruses on 90 surfaces at the Helsinki Airport. And they took only eight samples from the plastic security trays over the course of three weeks. Half of those samples showed signs of at least one respiratory virus, such as influenza A or a coronavirus that can cause severe respiratory infections. (In contrast, none of the 42 samples taken from surfaces around the toilets showed traces of these viruses.)
[...]
Gendreau recommends using sanitizers that contain at least 60 percent alcohol or washing your hands with soap and water. “Just make sure you do if for 25 seconds,” he says.
And be careful about where you put your hands before you get a chance to clean them, Gendreau adds.
“The trick is to be mindful about not touching your face,” he says. “Eighty percent of all infections are transmitted by your hands: You touch a surface that’s contaminated with a virus and then introduce it into your body by touching your face. Humans touch their eyes, nose or mouth about 200 times a day.”
