You see warning after warning about how how germ-ridden airports are. And with good reason…people put their fingers in all sorts of nasty places…in their mouth, up their nose, the may surreptitiously scratch their private parts, they pick up a coin they find on the ground and, of course, you’ve got the people who use the toilet and don’t wash their hands. Even when people try to be considerate and cough or sneeze into their hands, it means they’ve just put a bajillion germs into their hands And right after they do one or more of these things, they wind up using the touch screens to check in.
InsuranceQuotes.com, a Texas-based insurance website, did a study at ATL to see what the average number of viable bacteria and fungal cells per square inch, or colony-forming units (CFU) there were on publicly used surfaces. Self check-in screens had the most, with an average of 253,857 CFU per screen (one screen they checked had over ONE MILLION CFU).
And when they’re done using their germ-ridden fingers to check in, you use the same touch screen with your fingers. And then your eye itches so you rub it with that finger. Or you cover your mouth with one hand and pick that piece of corn from between your teeth with the other. And unfortunately, touching your eyes, nose or mouth when you have germs on your hands is an excellent way to get sick.
EWWWW!
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Continue reading “Here’s An Easy Way To Avoid Exposure To A Bunch Of Germs At The Airport”
In April 1998, I was still living in Staten Island, NY and was going down to Walt Disney World about 6 times per year – usually for long weekends, but occasionally for a whole week at a time. Newark Airport was my airport of choice to fly down to Orlando and I would usually fly via Continental Airlines or Delta. The week before Easter of 1998, I took a long weekend trip and Continental was my carrier.