Today in "Things toilets are cleaner than": airport edition

[nineveh_uk]

To be fair, this study was on rhinovirus and respiratory viruses rather than intestinal bugs, and people don't generally blow their nose on a toilet lid. But I am a bit suspicious that if the study had been of intestinal bugs the toilets might still have won, because if there is one overarching message it is that stuff that gets regularly cleaned because people worry it is dirty, is cleaner than stuff no-one thinks to clean.

The University of Nottingham and the Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare (available on open access here) have done a study on "Deposition of respiratory virus pathogens on frequently touched surfaces at airport". I.e. they swabbed a load of surfaces at airports and looked at which ones had cold and flu germs on them. Toilet lids, flushes, and interior door locks scored zero. So did lift buttons, check-in screens, and escalator buttons.

The winners? The plastic dog in the children's playground, and luggage trays at the security area, of which rhinovirus, adenovirus, influenza A, and human corona OC43 were each found on 50% of trays sampled.*

The reason for the investigation related to the possibility of airports spreading pandemic flu. Personally, I'm going to be using a LOT of handgel at security from now on. Just to make this study extra special, the samples were taken at Helsinki airport, where antisoppist and I will be next week. I'd better make sure I have plans not to come back to work afterwards - I suspected that being ill immediately after 5 out of my last 5 years September holidays was not sheer coincidence!

In other fun flying news, British pilot licenses will become invalid and have to be reissued after a no-deal Brexit.

Former head of flight operations Captain Mike Vivian [at the CAA] believes a deal will be ultimately reached but says the skills shortage at the CAA is concerning.

He told Sky News: "The CAA has to ramp up the staff that it previously had to discharge these tasks before they were given over to EASA - and that might take some time.

"As of 29 March next year the European Aviation rules and certification and all the rest that go with it cease overnight.

"I don't believe that any responsible body, least of all our government or the CAA, would let it run until that point. We should have clarity I would have thought by the end of this year."

Responsible body??? That just guarantees that if the current government is in charge of it, we're grounded.


*Don't pay by card in the airport pharmacy, either. But that was a smaller sample.

Comments

[conuly]

Hand sanitizers are somewhat effective against gastro diseases, but useless against respiratory - and evidence shows that diseases are building up resistance to their most common concentration of alcohol.

[nineveh_uk]

The article suggests that though they aren't any good for colds, they are better than soap for flu. But in any case, I intend to do both - but I will have to walk to the toilets and in the meantime I'm going to be touching stuff I own and will touch again later, so if a bit of gel has any chance at all of making a difference it is worth it to me, since I haven't come back from a September holiday in years without an infection!

[tree_and_leaf]

*Don't pay by card in the airport pharmacy, either. But that was a smaller sample.

An advantage to contactless I hadn't thought of...

[nineveh_uk]

Indeed! Money's notoriously germy, too. Clearly it is time for me to face the modern era.

[azdak]

This is fascinating! The infectiousness of the plastic dog at the children's playground doesn't surprise me one bit (I have just come down with a cold at the mere thought of going to back to kindergarten) but the luggage trays are a shock. Gloves, perhaps?

Have fun in Helsinki! I love it and I'm sure antisoppist knows all the best bits (there was a moomin exhibition at the theatre museum last year - apparently Tove Jansen was heavily into theatre - but I'm not sure if that's still on).

[nineveh_uk]

Yes, I'd expect anything in the children's play area to be covered with every germ short of plague, but the trays had never occurred to me. I wear gloves all winter on the bus (though apparently this is less effective than you'd think, because you inevitably end up touching the outside of your gloves...), but it might make me look weird at security, and I'm not sure that's a place I want to look weird!

We are going to see Chess in Swedish. I am glad to have seen it in English already this year... I have been to Helsinki before, but not for twenty years and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I rather fancy the design museums/shops, which I definitely didn't go to last time, being a callow student and expect to be guided round the best of them. Alas, Google tells me that the moomins at the theatre exhibition has closed.

[tree_and_leaf]

Disposables? But that definitely would make you look weird.

[azdak]

Perhaps the thing to do is to own the weirdness - pull out a pair of those blue gloves sinister American government scientists wear on TV, make a show of donning them, and then with great fastidiousness lay every single item neatly in the tray. Glare at anyone who tries to frisk you as if they were a particularly nasty potential superbug, then remove the gloves once you've repacked all your stuff and demand a rubbish bin.

[nineveh_uk]

I look forward to your report of how it goes! I'm just slightly worried by being fixed by a beady eye and enquiry as to when I last handled Semtex.

[tree_and_leaf]

Come to think of it, I think the Homeland Security goons do wear blue gloves. I assumed it was for Semtex (etc) related reasons, but maybe they just don't want to get a cold.

Though private citizens are doomed at the US border infection-wise, because of the electronic fingertip scanner thingy.

[nineveh_uk]

I'm trying to think what the people at Heathrow wear, but can't remember. I shall observe with interest!

I wouldn't be so sure about the electronic fingertip being the germ conveyor of doom - the fingertip stuff like life buttons and check-in screens at Helsinki was clean. I assume this is because people are aware it needs to be cleaned because lot of people touch it, but the scanner presumably also needs to have clean glass (up to a point) to work, so it might not be totally terrible.

[tree_and_leaf]

We disinfect the toys at our toddler group regularly, but I have a horrible feeling we should do it after every session to have any effect (and even then, I'm sure they're still disgusting disease vectors!)

[azdak]

You can console yourself with the thought that exposure to germs helps children to develop robust immune systems. Whereas for poor old Nineveh, it's too late.

[nineveh_uk]

Yes! It is positively doing the children a favour.

[tree_and_leaf]

Come to Cheeky Cherubs, and build your children's immune system!

I'm not sure about that as an advertising tactic, mind....

[nineveh_uk]

I think that children's toys are probably impossible unless you are also disinfecting the toddlers on entry.

[tree_and_leaf]

Don't tempt me - I've got a cold from the little darlings already....

[nineveh_uk]

Fill font with Dettol. Dunk. You know it makes sense!

[tree_and_leaf]

I seem to remember that when I was working at St Alban's Abbey, which was during the Swine Flu, as well as abolishing physical contact at the peace*, someone suggested introducing sprinkling with consecrated Dettol at the Absolution, but the Dean didn't go for it...



* Some people were very sad when the ban was lifted.