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The next time you cross the airport security, it might be helpful to wash your hands afterwards.
According to the results of a new study published by Finnish and British researchers, half of plastic airport safety bins could carry viruses responsible for respiratory infections.
The study, published last week in the journal BioMed Central Infectious Diseases, tested surface samples taken from plastic bins at Helsinki Airport, taken at three different times at the height of the day. of the 2015-2016 season.
Four of the eight samples contained rhinovirus or adenovirus, both of which cause symptoms similar to those of the common cold.
The lead authors of this article, from the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare and the University of Nottingham, concluded that screening platters "often seem to be contaminated" and that they are one of the most surfaces pick up harmful viruses.
"We found the highest frequency of respiratory viruses on the plastic trays used in the security check areas to drop luggage and personal belongings carried by hand," the scientists wrote in their newspaper article. "These housings generally operate with high frequency for subsequent passengers and are usually gripped with a large palm surface and strong grip.
The results, they said, demonstrate that airports can be a risk area for an "emerging pandemic threat" – a prospect that has already become a major concern following the 2002 SARS outbreak. of the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
And the preponderance of viruses in airport screening bins can be even more worrying for Americans, who are increasingly meeting with TSA screening officers to empty their food and snacks directly into plastic bins.
At the end of the study focused on the Helsinki airport, the researchers concluded that airports should offer travelers a disinfectant before and after each security check, and that trays baggage should be cleaned and disinfected more frequently.
"This knowledge helps to recognize hot spots for the risk of contact transmission, which could be significant during an emerging pandemic threat or a serious epidemic," scientists wrote in the news. article.
Other problems
But plastic garbage cans are not the only place at airports where researchers have found frequent cold-causing viruses. On the buttons of the pharmacy payment terminal at Helsinki Airport, 50% of the samples were tested positive for rhinovirus or human coronavirus.
Of the samples taken from desks and glass partitions at the airport's passport control station, one in three contained rhinovirus.
And when scientists repeatedly rubbed a plastic dog in the children's playground at the airport, they discovered that the toy was home to 67% of the viruses that cause cold.
In these cases, the scientists concluded that the best approach could be the simplest: a good old wipedown.
"Many cleaning agents, household wipes (antibacterials) and antiviral tissues are able to quickly make the influenza virus unsustainable, offering multiple simple possibilities to reduce the risk of indirect transmission of contacts," said the scientists.
Frequent cleaning, they pointed out, is exactly why an improbable surface is at the top of the list of the most virus-free areas in the airport: the toilet. Of the 42 samples taken from toilet lids, flush buttons, and door locks, there were no samples where scientists detected the presence of a cold virus.
"No respiratory viruses have been detected in a considerable number of samples from the most affected toilet surfaces, which is not unexpected, as passengers may pay close attention to the limitation of hands and hand hygiene ".
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