A passenger wears a mask featuring Japanese popular cartoon cat Doraemon, as she goes through thermal scanners, not shown, to detect symptoms of the Swine Flu at the arrival area of Manila's International Airport, Philippines. Photo by Associated Press
I followed all the rules: I washed my hands regularly, got plenty of rest and ate all the right things. Still, I picked up the flu during a recent visit to Stockholm, Sweden, but didn't exhibit any symptoms until I was already on what ended up becoming a totally miserable flight home.
A recent story about a woman who was removed from a United Airlines flight after being suspected her of having the flu made me ponder the dilemma I would have faced had I started hacking before boarding the plane. (See the story at www2.tbo.com/content/2009/nov/10/na-swine-flu-challenges-airlines/).
Seems that most air travelers would agree with those who pulled her from that flight. According to a recent poll by tripadvisor.com, nearly 60 percent of nearly 1,500 respondents said that they would alert flight staff to a sick seat mate during a flight. Oddly, an earlier survey by tripadvisor.com showed that 51 percent of those travelerspolled said that they would fly with the flu in order to avoid a booking change fee.
What would you do? Have you traveled while ill?
By the way, the Center for Disease Control clearly makes it clear anyone with flu-like symptoms should not travel, and that some countries are screening passengers for symptoms. See all the details at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/novel-h1n1-flu.aspx.
