Winter respiratory illnesses: train vs plane

The only times that I have gotten the winter respiratory illnesses as an adult are when I traveled by plane in winter during the holiday season. I have yet to take the train during the holiday season or any time in winter and was wondering what people's experiences have been in this regard. I have attributed getting sick after air travel from being crammed in with multitudes of people in a narrow tube. Because the train is more spacious, maybe the extra distance between people and the walls would decrease the chance of catching the flu or the like. Comments, experiences...?

I haven't flown more than a half dozen times in the past 15 years or so. But I do recall getting a cold more than once when flying during the holiday season.

As for catching something on Amtrak, I seem to 'attract' someone coughing & sneezing directly behind me, especially in the winter and spring. I've been known to change seats before departure to 'escape' the floating germ cloud. As I generally ride Amtrak a couple times per month, I've learned to wash my hands at every opportunity in the stations as well as while on board. It seems to help. I only caught something once from another passenger in the past 12 months or so.

I also sanitize my traveling gear, from suitcase handles to cell phone to laptop computer and external mouse the night before I get on the train. When traveling in a roomette, I use Clorox Hydrogen Peroxide wipes to sanitize my roomette before unpacking...tray table, switches, latches, and even side walls, and especially the toilet in Viewliner sleepers. Thank you, PennyK for the idea of using the wipes!

I think you're at risk during the holidays no matter what. That's a time when many people are sick, and traveling can sometimes weaken the immune system (not sleeping as well, not eating as well, forgetting to hydrate, stress, etc).

Trains have plenty of shared air and surfaces and hold more passengers than an airplane. You're also around those people for much longer.

Honestly, I would just follow your normal hygiene routine and use whichever mode of travel you prefer.

Some attribute dry air in airplanes as a contributor to respiratory illnesses.

jb

John Bobinyec said:

Some attribute dry air in airplanes as a contributor to respiratory illnesses.

jb

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Trains can have dry air too. Having had mild bloody nose on my first LD trip, I now bring a nose spray bin all my train (and planes now) trips and use it.

My body is used to dry air and in fact prefers it. I live in Albuquerque, so we're talkin dry.

In the winter I wear a face mask when traveling, the super-duper antibacterial paper ones. I find it does help a lot (I have asthma and am prone to respiratory issues). The nice thing about the mask is lots of people assume I'm the one who's sick and they stay away. That's plenty OK by me.

I don't travel very often by train or plane. But I am pretty sure I caught the flu on the Empire Builder one January in a Roomette from Chicago to Portland. I think the fact that I had to walk through so many cars to get to the diner or lounge contributed to likely exposure. Then I was that person everyone tries to avoid, coughing away on the Cascades to Bellingham a couple days later...

I rarely catch anything on an Amtrak journey. Amtrak trains are like rolling sieves compared to an airplane. There is also no vent above your head blowing recirculated air in your face (good idea to close it, unless you are desperate for air).

I always used to get sick when I traveled by plane -- EVERY time! Then a friend in the health care business told me to do three things:

1. Drink plenty of water. Dissolve an Airborne tablet in your full water bottle at least once a day, if you think that helps (I do).
2. WASH YOUR HANDS
3. Keep your hands away from your face (if you have to touch your face, see #2 first).

Haven't gotten sick on a plane trip, either, since I started following that advice.

The hygiene suggestions are smart.

I should think pressurized cabins on a plane MIGHT be more likely to breed illness. But I'm basing this on assumptions that fresh air doesn't have a chance to refresh the environment on a plane once in the air. But I don't fly, so it's only an assumption.

Trains at least have some modest opportunity for fresh air from the outside to refresh the interior.

I fly and take trains every year and to my knowledge have never been sick after the trips.

I practice good hygiene and every once in a while Ill catch a cold for unknown reasons. Taxis that have had 40 people in the car before me, grocery store where an ill person picks up a can of ?? tomato sauce and puts it back and then I pick it up and buy it. A menu in a restaurant is full of germs and they dont wipe them down. Airplanes, trains, buses are all confined spaces that can cause issues. I think no safe places out there just good hygiene practices will help. If I had to pick the best chance of being at risk it would be a plane and a restaurant menu. Wipes are a good idea to use anywhere.

Just because a cabin is pressurized does not mean that air is not refreshed with outside air.

I tried the mask once while flying, but found that my breathing was impeded and I felt tired and oxygen-deprived, so I gave up on that. I've had fairly good hand-washing habits since I took my first course in microbiology in 1981. However, I frequently have my hands up to my face because it's pretty itchy a lot of the time, so that doesn't help. I have also tried the Airborne products and I think they do work or maybe I got lucky those times. Hydration? Having lived in AZ and NM for much of my life, there is a container of water by side at almost all times.

I thought I was going to be traveling by train over the upcoming holidays, but now it appears that it will likely be by plane, so yuck.

jis said:

Just because a cabin is pressurized does not mean that air is not refreshed with outside air.

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I am sure there are standards for air-changes-per-hour. But the outside air temp at 35000' is quite cold (livescience says "below negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit"). At that temperature, I don't think I would want to bring in and heat any more fresh air than I had to, would you?

I get off the train and walk well away from the smokers, every daytime chance I get. And we all know they stand there with the doors open. One time the attendants begged me to re-board so they could go back in the warm train and close the doors. It was the crew change stop in Shelby, we were early and lots of schedule padding. I did not realize it till they told me, but every open door has to stay that way till the last person has boarded. I was the last one out walking, and it was COLD (bracing, LOL!).

It does not matter what I would want to or what you think it ought to be. The requirement is to maintain pressure and Oxygen levels equivalent to 7,000’ - 8,000’ altitude in most planes. There are a few newer ones that do 6,000’. If those make you feel Oxygen deprived then that is what it is.

The traditional way to do this is to use bleed air from the engine. But the 787 does not use bleed air. It uses air pulled in separate from the engine and electrically heats it. And it maintains 6,000’ and higher level of humidity.

Ultimately it all boils down to cost benefit analysis. Technically one could build a plane that maintains sea level conditions but that would be pointless waste of money.

jis said:

It does not matter what I would want to or what you think it ought to be. The requirement is to maintain pressure and Oxygen levels equivalent to 7,000’ - 8,000’ altitude in most planes. There are a few newer ones that do 6,000’. If those make you feel Oxygen deprived then that is what it is.

The traditional way to do this is to use bleed air from the engine. But the 787 does not use bleed air. It uses air pulled in separate from the engine and electrically heats it. And it maintains 6,000’ and higher level of humidity.

Ultimately it all boils down to cost benefit analysis. Technically one could build a plane that maintains sea level conditions but that would be pointless waste of money.

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Thank you for the specifics! I knew there would be minimum standards. And yes, I know that some people have difficulty with the "altitude" on a plane, just as some have to choose their Amtrak routes carefully to avoid going above certain altitudes. I am lucky to live at 4800', and have skied and climbed as high as 14,000'. Only trouble I ever had was the first night sleeping over 8,000' (the autonomic breathing rate takes a day or two to adjust).

oregon pioneer said:

Thank you for the specifics! I knew there would be minimum standards. And yes, I know that some people have difficulty with the "altitude" on a plane, just as some have to choose their Amtrak routes carefully to avoid going above certain altitudes. I am lucky to live at 4800', and have skied and climbed as high as 14,000'. Only trouble I ever had was the first night sleeping over 8,000' (the autonomic breathing rate takes a day or two to adjust).

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I "discovered" Amtrak because a friend chose the train to come to Albuquerque (5000-6000 feet elevation) because flying from lower elevation to higher elevation had previously been problematic for her, so she chose the slower route via the Southwest Chief. She actually flew from her low elevation locale to Chicago and then took the SWC to ABQ.

oregon pioneer said:

Thank you for the specifics! I knew there would be minimum standards. And yes, I know that some people have difficulty with the "altitude" on a plane, just as some have to choose their Amtrak routes carefully to avoid going above certain altitudes. I am lucky to live at 4800', and have skied and climbed as high as 14,000'. Only trouble I ever had was the first night sleeping over 8,000' (the autonomic breathing rate takes a day or two to adjust).

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Highest I have been is 18,500’. But that was after acclimatizing at 13,000’.