At airports, plastic bins in security gates contain significant amounts of viruses.
If you plan to take the plane soon, beware of the plastic bins that you are given at security check, warn researchers from the University of Nottingham (England) and the Finnish National Institute for health and social welfare, which published a study in the BMC Infectious Diseases.
Scientists took an interest in the seasonal flu epidemics that occurred at Helsinki-Vantaa airport during the 2015-2016 seasonal flu peak to analyze the potential presence of the virus.
10% of surfaces analyzed
“We systematically sampled frequently touched surfaces in the passenger traffic lanes of a large airport during the seasonal flu epidemic,” explain the study’s authors. The experiment revealed the presence of seasonal influenza viruses on 10% of the surfaces analyzed, in particular the plastic bins used to store passenger luggage when passing through security gates.
These containers not only bore traces of the seasonal flu, but also of coronavirus and influenza A. “The plastic safety trays appeared to present the highest potential risk, and their handling is almost inevitable for all boarding passengers.” , say the researchers.
Lack of hygiene
The study estimates that the risk of contracting a virus during the passage of control is significantly higher than in the toilets, where hygiene is much more present. “This is not surprising, because the passengers are particularly careful: they avoid touching it and wash their hands when leaving “, emphasize the scientists.
However, it would suffice to clean the plastic bins regularly to reduce the risk of infections. The scientists behind this study therefore recommend that passengers be extra vigilant by washing their hands with an antiseptic gel before and after passing through security gates and educating airport staff on the need to regularly disinfect the bins in plastic.
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