Oct 30, 2009 8:06 pm US/Pacific
H1N1 Travel Concerns As Holiday Season Approaches
(CBS)
Expect jammed airports and packed planes as travelers take to the skies this holiday season. But an unwanted traveler threatens to travel with you, the H1N1 swine flu. Federal health experts are clear: Stay home if you're sick.
That's what Maya-Luisa Galvan tried to do. Just days before her flight, she came down with a 102-degree fever and chills. A lab test confirmed she was sick with swine flu, reports CBS station KPIX-TV.
But even a note from her doctor could not persuade the airline from charging her a rebooking fee.
"Qantas pretty much told me—swine flu wasn't a severe enough sickness," Galvan said.
A recent travel poll shows more than half of passengers said they would still get on a plane—even if they had the flu—if it meant avoiding that penalty.
Some passenger advocates believe airlines are just not doing enough to keep sick passengers off flights.
"All it's going to take is for one person to show up who is sick on a flight to infect lots of other people," said syndicated travel columnist Chris Elliott.
The airline industry insists there is no evidence of anyone catching H1N1 from an airline flight. They also insist aircraft ventilation systems protect against the spread of disease.
However new research suggests otherwise.
The research done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found if a passenger coughs or sneezes, even in a well ventilated cabin, that in less than 15 minutes, small airborne particles travel longer and much farther away than what's commonly believed, as far away as ten rows.
KPIX HealthWatch interviewed researcher Dr. James Bennett. He said airflow within a plane is complicated.
"The motion of people walking in the aisle flight attendants moving carts that certainly creates three-dimensional air motion," Bennett said.
The Association of Flight Attendants is concerned. The group is pressing the FAA to issue an emergency order requiring all U.S. Carriers follow mandatory guidelines to "reduce the risk" of infection onboard.
As for Galvan, she actually thinks she got sick on a previous flight.
"If that is how I got it, I would have wished that that person had just stayed home," Galvan said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Web Extra: Airline Cancellation Policies
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