Flu season needn’t cancel your vacation, flying plans

By SUSAN GLASER

Some airlines are refusing boarding to passengers who are visibly ill.

Talk about an unwanted travel companion: The swine-flu virus may be seated next to you on your flight to New York, in the buffet line on your long-awaited Caribbean cruise or left behind by the previous occupant of your four-star hotel room.

Frequent travelers are at an elevated risk for contracting the H1N1 virus this fall, in part because they, by nature, spend more time in crowded, public spaces than people who never leave home.

Even so, no one is suggesting you cancel your much-anticipated vacation to hide under the covers.

There are steps you can take to both minimize your risk of contracting the disease on the road, as well as help you cope if you get sick far from home.

Flying

Last April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control advised against nonessential travel to Mexico, where the swine flu first broke out. The warning, rescinded several weeks later, devastated Mexico’s tourist economy and cost the U.S. airline industry millions in lost revenue.

The Air Transport Association, the trade group for U.S. airlines, strongly disputes the notion that airplanes are airborne germ incubators. Nine out of 10 U.S. planes are equipped with medical-grade filters that clean the air circulating throughout the cabin, according to association spokesman David Castelveter.

“I honestly believe that you’re less likely to be infected on board an airplane than you are on board a bus, in a restaurant or any public office building,” he said.

Research on airborne contaminants inside an airplane, however, indicates that small droplets can travel — five rows or more within a cabin, according to James Bennett, an engineer with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati.

But that doesn’t mean, he said, that people necessarily get sick from those contaminants.

“If it’s in the air for several minutes, is it still viable by the time someone breathes it in?” The answer, he said, isn’t yet known.

In the meantime, airlines are taking precautions: Southwest has removed all pillows and blankets from daytime flights; Virgin America has added sanitizing gel and anti-bacterial wipes to its planes.

Overseas, some airlines are instituting more dramatic measures: taking the temperatures of passengers or having them pass through thermal imaging units to gauge elevated body temperatures. Passengers from entire flights have been quarantined in China in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

U.S. airlines can and sometimes do refuse boarding to passengers who are visibly ill, though airline officials say gate attendants can’t play doctor.

“If someone appears ill, we have procedures in place to assist them,” said Mary Clark, a spokeswoman for Continental Airlines.

The best advice, of course, is to stay home when you’re sick. Clark said Continental, the largest carrier from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, can waive any ticket change fee – usually $50 – on a case-by-case basis if a passenger can’t fly because he’s ill, though documentation from a doctor may be required.

Insurance

If you’re worried about getting sick — or you’re worried about traveling to a place where everyone around you is sick — your best defense is a good travel insurance policy.

Basic travel insurance generally reimburses travelers who can’t make the trip because they’re sick or provides them with adequate health care if they become ill on the road. But be careful: A handful of insurance companies have clauses that exclude coverage during a pandemic – and the World Health Organization declared the swine flu a global pandemic in June.

“It’s really important for travelers to do their homework,” said Vikki Corliss, a spokeswoman for insuremytrip.com, a Web site that allows travelers to compare different companies’ policies.

Travelers who want the ability to cancel their trip for any reason – including fear of getting sick – should consider Cancel For Any Reason coverage. You’ll pay for that peace of mind – up to 50 percent more than typical trip cancellation insurance, Corliss said – but it may be worth it.

Travel smart

Additional tips for staying healthy on the road apply whether you’re traveling to Columbus or Cairo:

UAvoid crowds if you can.

UUse alcohol-based gels and anti-bacterial wipes to frequently wash your hands and clean surfaces that get handled often (hotel phones, airplane armrests, etc.)

UAnd get a flu shot, both for the seasonal flu and the swine flu (when available).

As for taking prescription anti-viral medication on a trip, Dr. Alla Kirsch, a family physician in Mayfield Village, doesn’t recommend it – with some exceptions, including pregnant women, travelers who may have been exposed to the flu and those with weakened immune systems.

“Almost all of us are going to get infected with this,” said Kirsch, who is also the medical director of the Travel Centers of America, with 50 locations in the United States, including her office in Mayfield. “The flu, for most of us, is going to be very mild.”

In other words, pack some common sense in your suitcase. And then, bon voyage.