Filthy airport security trays have more germs than a lavatory
BUG-LADEN planes are often blamed for making travellers ill, but a new study suggests that the germs may actually be closer to the ground.
Tests on plastic luggage trays at airport security found that half were harbouring at least one respiratory disease such as the common cold or influenza.
The communal trays, which often contain shoes and belts which are touched frequently but rarely washed, as well as detritus from pockets such as used tissues, were found to have more germs than lavatory areas.
The study was carried out by a team of experts from the University of Nottingham and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, who swabbed a variety of surfaces at Helsinki-vantaa airport in Finland during the winter of 2016 to find out how pandemics might spread.
Researchers say trays may be particularly bad for transferring disease because they are used by several hundred people a day; are non-porous, which helps the viruses survive longer; and are “typically seized with a wide palm surface area and strong grip”.
Experts have advised that alcohol hand-rub be made available before and after security checks.
Jonathan Van Tam, professor of health protection from the University’s School of Medicine, said: “This study supports the case for improved public awareness of how viral infections spread.
“People can help to minimise contagion by hygienic hand-washing and coughing into a handkerchief, tissue or sleeve at all times – but especially in public places. These simple precautions can help prevent pandemics and are most important in crowded areas like airports that have a high volume of people travelling to and from many different parts of the world.
“Of the surfaces tested, plastic security screening trays appeared to pose the highest potential risk, and handling these is almost inevitable for all embarking passengers.”
The most common virus found in the survey was rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, but the swabs also picked up the influenza A virus.
As well as trays, viruses were discovered at one in three passport desks and one in seven handrails, as well as on the toys of children’s playgrounds and in aircraft. No respiratory viruses were found on lavatory flush handles, seats or doors, possibly because they are cleaned frequently. Half of chip-andpin machine buttons at the airport pharmacies were also found to contain respiratory diseases.
The study was carried out during and after peak passenger density at the airport by a method which detects genetic material from viruses on surfaces and in the air. Although the test cannot show that the viruses were alive and could cause disease, previous research has proved that many microbes survive on various surface materials up to several days.
Virology expert Niina Ikonen, from the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare, said: “The new findings support preparedness planning for controlling the spread of serious infectious diseases in airports.”
The investigation was published in BMC Infectious Diseases.
‘This study supports the case for improved public awareness of how viral infections spread’