The flight is packed, the bone-dry air is recirculating in the cabin and someone five rows away is having a coughing fit.
What can a traveler do to guard against something as common as the everyday cold or as stealthy as SARS in the elbow-to-elbow confinement of an airline cabin?
There seems to be general agreement, according to a number of experts consulted, that air travelers are at higher risk for colds and other microbial or viral infections, perhaps simply because of the close quarters involved.
The suggested countermeasures are simple, ranging from washing your hands and not touching your face to bringing along your own pillow and perhaps using saline solutions to cleanse the nose.
A study from the University of California at San Francisco published last year found that roughly one in five passengers came down with a cold within one week of a flight.
That is far higher than the rate at which colds strike the general population at any given time, according to Scott Gold, a physician and co-founder of the New York Sinus Center.
Savvy advice for all flyers.
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