Germs and Family Travel

Read the article on Diarrhoea for more on this

Staying healthy on flights

This can be a major problem with flying, even short hops. Many people find they get ill a day or two after landing, a sore throat, a cough, a cold or similar. Turns out there is a lot you can do to keep the germs at bay.

• Throughout the flight suck antiseptic throat lozenges.
  
  
• Use an antiseptic nasal spray or colloidal silver spray on your upper lip and in your nasal passages
  
  
• Don't use the airline pillows or blankets. These are only washed when they 'look' dirty. (eurkh) We carried our own.
  
  
• Take a small pack of antibacterial wipes and use them to wipe your drop down tray. Again these are very rarely washed.
  
  
• Keep your shoes handy for visits to the loo and make sure that the children slip theirs on too. Many people are known to 'miss' and treading in the missed spots in your socks is disgusting.
  
  
• Use the antibacterial wipes after each loo visit. Washing your hands is fine, until you open the door and find the last person who used the loo didn't wash their hands...
  
  
• Boost your immune system before you fly with echinacea and vitamin C.
  
  
• Follow the exercise routines recommend on the in-flight magazine and tv
  
  
• It is also recommended that the day before you fly you take baby aspirin as well as on the day of the flight and continue to do so for three days afterwards as a way to help prevent deep vein thrombosis
  
  
• Take an empty water bottle through security with you then fill it and keep drinking throughout the flight to help avoid dehydration which can leave you feeling weak and tired. Avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages too as they are frequently diuretics, exacerbating and compounding the problem of dehydration.